


Beast Wars: Regeneration

by sisterawesomeness



Series: Beast Wars: Eri Saga [1]
Category: Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 00:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 49,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4767521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sisterawesomeness/pseuds/sisterawesomeness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to a random twister and mysterious sphere a normal modern day girl is sucked into the Beast Wars. How will the Maximals and Predacons deal with this new arrival? How will she change things? What does all of this mean for a certain warrior?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Robot Dinosaurs, Mutant Bees, and Lasers

**Author's Note:**

> I'm moving all my work onto here from my fanfic page. I own nothing but my OC Eri!

Today was turning into one of those days. She left school as quickly as possible but Kimiko, Miki, and Ami still managed to beat her to the front door. Joy…

_You'd think they'd have something better to do than bother me. Ryuu's even dating Kimiko but does that help me? No, if anything it made things ten times worse._

She hated Yoriko Academy with all of her being. Most of the kids that attended were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Those that weren't and were there thanks to the aid of scholarships were treated like charity cases. The fact she was not Japanese, like Ryuu and the majority of her peers, did not help matters.

A breeze shot past her and she quickly hugged her arms around herself. October was getting extremely nippy… _It just had to be on the day I accidentally forget my jacket at the house._ Casually, she turned left and started walking through the park. It added fifteen minutes to her route but she didn't really mind. She loved the park in all its autumn glory.

The multicolor leaves stacked or scattered all over the place. It's not too hot but winter's chilly grip hasn't quit taken full affect yet. _Perfect if you ask me. Of course it would've been better if I hadn't forgotten the bloody jacket._ She rubbed her hands up her arms to get friction and keep them warm. The wind began to pick up even more while clouds blotted out the sun. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

If it rained she'd be so screwed, just what she needed. The imminent threat of getting caught in storm and then catching a cold for all of her efforts later on. She picked up her pace but the wind almost started to match her speed.

Holy crap! At his point forget carrying about what her hair looked like. It was tempting to shot out, "It's a twister!" but she highly doubted anyone would find it funny. She passed a few other people who looked almost frightened. This city had never experienced a twister before and they were so not used to this type of weather front. Umbrellas flew up and a man fought to keep hold of his briefcase.

She swerved into the nearby tree line. If she crossed through this small wooded patch she could skip using the long winding trail and cut her time in half. When a particularly harsh blast hit her it was all she could do to latch onto the bark of the nearest tree trunk. _What the hell? How did all of this happen so suddenly?_

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of something. It looked spherical, metallic, and almost glowing. Did someone drop their ball or something?

"Awww!" she screamed as a gust of wind forced her backwards into the tree. Right under her feet, caught in a root, was the mysterious sphere. She had no clue what caused her to do what she did next. Human curiosity maybe?

Slowly, she leaned down and grasped the ball. In order to dislodge it she had to use most of her body weight. After a few tugs it came loss from the dirt and tree root it had been wedged in. Some of the dirt flew off from the orb due to the breeze. She held it closer to get a better view. It was the size of a softball and perfectly circular. However, its color is what got her attention. The ball was pure black but had strange jet blue markings all over it. Once she picked it up it appeared to almost glow. _What is it? A toy?_

Just then the wind current got even worse. She was forced to plant herself right against the pine's trunk.

"Awwww awwwww!" she cried. Light poured out of the orb and nearly blinded her. A sudden bolt of electricity shot through her system. "Ouch!" a second later she let go of the ball. It went flying away at a high rate of speed.

"What is going on here?" she yelled. The wind drowned out her voice. Her body was picked up off the ground and the only thing keeping her from joining the sphere was her two handed death grip on the bark. Suddenly, the piece of bark separated from the tree and she was sent flying. Ok, more like silently tumbling through the air screaming at the top of her lungs. At least, she thought she was shouting. The only sound her ears could pick up was the rushing of air past her head. Everything became a dark blur until that same strange glow she had seen coming from the ball engulfed her.

It became eerily silent and peaceful for a moment. She could've sworn she was just floating and then her world became dark once again. Before her brain switched off she could have sworn there had been a voice calling out to her.

~*~

The next thing she noticed was the feeling she was falling. It pulled her out of the darkness of unconsciousness. When she opened her eyes she saw the vast blue sky and blinding sunlight. Then her brain realized her suspicions were correct. She was, in fact, free falling… _What?_

"Ahhhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhh!" she yelled still diving backward and, more importantly, downward. _Why am I falling? How far until I splatter into the ground? Am I going to die? Is this the end?_ All of these questions whizzed through her head in a flash.

"Help!" she uselessly called into the sky. Suddenly, she hit something. There was a high pitched squawking sound and she fell a couple more feet. That's when she and whatever she'd hit landed on something solid, and preferably stable.

"Ow," she groaned. _Guess I finally hit the ground._ It took a couple seconds before she caught her breath. Another screech could be heard under her.

"Oh my God! Did I hit a bird?" She asked frantically getting up. The view she was greeted with nearly made her pee her own pants. Implanted face down in the dirt was a red pterosaur.

"Gah! What hit me?" it screeched in a high pitched and irritated voice. A talking dinosaur…

"What?" he nearly yelled looking up at her after removing his face from the ground. "A human! But how could a human have…"

She didn't give it time to finish its own statement as she took off running. The movie _Jurassic Park_ was at the forefront of her mind. The basic plot was if you were stupid enough to stand around asking questions you got eaten. She did not want to be made into dino pooh. _But how the hell could it talk?_

"Get back here," it screamed after her. There was another screech and a shadow covered the ground in front of her. Even though she knew it was a foolish move she chanced a glance behind her. It was flying right over top of her twenty feet in the air.

"Eep!" she shrieked and ran faster.

"You won't escape me. No one drives the fearsome Terrorsaur into the dirt. Especially not a flesh bag like you!" it yelled. She heard a weird noise after it screamed, "Terrorsaur! Terrorize!" She happened another glance in time to watch it change midflight into, what looked like, a robot.

"No way. It can't be a robot!" she yelled still running. A red beam of light came out of its, gun? A tree right next to her exploded.

"Holy! What is going on around here? First a dinosaur, then it turns into a flying robot. And now it can shot lasers at me." _Am I in hell? Did I die and go right to hell?_

"What Terror-bot doing?" a strange new voice said to her left. If humans had the ability to jump out of their skins she would have.

"Mutant bee!" she exclaimed fueled by a new wave of terror coursing through her systems. "Giant mutant bee!"

"Mutant bee? Where?" it said moving its head back and forth, as if looking for such a being. "Waspinator sees no bee."

"And it talks too!" She swerved to her right and began running in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" it called. "Waspinator wants to know where the giant mutant bee is!" There was an eerily familiar metallic noise. Ignoring the sinking feeling in her gut she peeked over her shoulder back at the bee. It turned into another flying robot.

"This is crazy!" she panicked. _Was this what hell was supposed to be like? No one ever mentioned flying transforming animal robots with lasers. What did I do to deserve this?_ "Robotic flying dinosaurs, giant mutant bee robots, lasers. What's next? Talking snake robots?"

"I don't know," a creepy voice said above her. Perched in a tree was a huge yellow and magenta tarantula. "But what about a talking spider robot?" it asked and then transformed too.

"Holy crap!" she gasped. It laughed and shot something at her. She yelped and dodged in time to avoid being hit. When she looked behind her a white and blue spider web was stuck on a tree. Based on what spiders do only one conclusion came to her mind.

"It's gonna inject me with acidic fluids. Melt my organs and suck them out of me!" She bolted in another direction toward an outcropping of rocks. There was a screech overhead and she guessed it was the flying one. When she heard a buzzing sound she looked back in time to see the bugs and join the dino in coming after her. _What is with these guys? Don't they have something better to do?_

She came to a rock clearing. In the distance were snowcapped mountains. _Just where in the world am I? What are those robots? Are they aliens? Was I abducted by aliens?_ "I don't want to be probed!" she cried. The screeching and buzzing were getting closer. She barely stopped before she fell off a step drop off. Then she ran along the side of it as tears threatened to leave her eyes. Not once in her entire life had she been this frightened.

"God, Buddha, Kami! Someone, please help me!" she called. The ground under her foot gave way and she started sliding down the ridge. She was too surprised to yell or even scream. Soon she lost her balance and began tumbling down. Dirt and rocks were her only speed bumps.

Only when she hit something did she come to a complete stop. That something just so happened to let out a pained growl upon the impact.

"Ohhh," she groaned grabbing her head. _What was it with all of this falling and hitting things? Speaking of which… The last thing I came into contact with was that flying freak with the laser gun._ After taking a couple of moments to gather her courage she opened her eyes. At first there was only a big catlike pupil. Then she noticed the rest of the face. A velociraptor! "Noooo!"

The raptor made a sound and jerked away from her. She fell off the side of it in the process and crawled away. Fear enveloped her and she didn't stop until her back hit hard rock. It seemed to get over being deafened by her screaming and starred directly at her. Her heart nearly stopped beating at its insistent death glare. Then, to her horror, it spoke.

"What in the infernal are you?" it demanded in a gruff knarled voice.

"It can talk too," she managed to stammer out. The raptor didn't seem to be able to form a proper reply to that. Instead it demanded, "What are you?" This time it came and loomed over her huddled and shivering form.

"I…," the girl stuttered. "I'm a g-girl."

"A girl?" it said, giving her another piercing look. Instinctively, she shrunk under its gaze. "You… You are human are you not?" Its tone gave the impression it was stating a fact instead of asking.

"Y-ye…yes."

"What is a human doing here?" the raptor asked itself. For the moment it seemed to be ignoring her very presence and merely addressing itself. "It's not the right time for them…" Then it looked back at her and she felt like she was going to be sick. "How did you even get here?"

"T-there w..was a twis-twister and then… Please don't eat me raptor!" she said covering her head.

"Eat you?" it exclaimed. The look it gave her made her feel stupid. "I am not going to eat you, fool!" it made a snarl and its face came even closer. She closed her eyes and flinched. Her hands went from her head to her face in order to cover her eyes. If this was the end she couldn't bear to look.

Instead of a gory death a clawed hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her to her feet. Her eyes snapped open in order for her to regain her balance. On pretty wobbly legs. After making sure she wasn't going to fall over he let go.

"Th…Th..Thank y-you," she stammered nervously starring at the brown and tan raptor's face. It let out a low keyed guttural growl that reminded her of a heavy sigh. Before it could say anything a creepily familiar screech could be heard overhead. They both looked into the sky and spotted the flying dinosaur-robot-thing with the laser guns dive-bombing right toward them.

"Predacons!" the raptor snarled and transformed. She watched as it changed into a giant, (compared to her) brown, silver, gold, and blue robot. Even more terrifying was the fact it pulled out a long drill-like sword, which seemed to be made out of teeth. Then the weapon started spinning and let out a grinding metallic sound. When it looked down at her she saw it had red eyes. They bore into her and it took less than a couple of seconds before she ran screaming bloody murder. Out of instinct she ducked behind some rocks for protection.

"This is not happening to me!" she exclaimed putting a hand over her heart. It felt like it was going to explode out of her chest. "Is everything here a robot?" A loud explosion sounded close to the rock making it vibrate. There was also a series of laser noises and she couldn't help but chance a peek.

The raptor robot and the flying bot were really going at it. Green lasers shot out of the raptors eyes as it tried to hit the other one. Fly-boy dodged while letting out a rather screechy laugh. It shot at the robo-raptor who barely managed to leap out of its blasting range. She silently began cheering for the raptor. It was beyond weird. Technically, she shouldn't be routing for any of them. In fact, it would probably be best if they blew each other to bits. Maybe it had something to do with him not having tried to kill and/or eat her.

There was a buzzing sound and she turned to see the mutant bee bot land. Then it almost seemed to tiptoe up behind where the raptor was. _Two on one isn't fair! Wait, why do I even care? But if the bee and the squawker win I'm dead. If robo-raptor wins I'm dead too!_ The bee closed in one the distracted raptor and raised its gun.

"Behind you!" she shouted.

It turned around and noticed the bee. There was an audible growl as the green lasers shot out of its eyes and hit the bee right in the chest. It was sent flying into a nearby rock. The flying freak let out an angry screech and continued to shot at the raptor. One blast came particularly close and made her duck back behind the rock. _Why didn't I just let them blow each other up?_

BOOOOMMMM!

A blast must've hit the rock because it shoke. Debris fell behind the rock and scattered around her. She let out a tiny scream and covered her head with her arms. There was a grunt, another laser sound, and a squawking gasp. No way was she going to peek again. She didn't know who'd won and didn't care. Perhaps, if she was lucky, they'd destroyed each other and she'd only have to look out for that creepy spider. (She counted the bee out of the picture considering it had been sent flying by a freaking laser to the chest.)

Patiently, she waited a few moments to make sure they were gone before she decided to chance moving. Before she even opened her eyes a hand grabbed her arm. Clawed fingers dug into her flesh and she screamed out of fear more than the actual pain. Harshly, she was yanked out of her hiding place. Blindly, she thrashed around hoping to deter whatever had grabbed her.

"Noooo! Let go of me! Fire!" she yelled as loud as possible remembering a little of her self-defense classes. Her leg swung out with all the power she had in her tiny frame but came into contact with something metallic. There was a loud "clang" followed by a shooting pain through her leg and an angry growl. Even though she recognized the pitch it didn't make her feel any better.

When she opened her eyes she found herself starring into the frowning blue face of robo-raptor. As its red eyes bored into her she couldn't help but whimper. "Uhhhh... I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it! Just please don't eat me…"

It let out an annoyed snort before speaking. "For the final time, I am not going to eat you, stupid girl. You would not even be worth the trouble of digesting." It made the noise again. "Not to mention the terrible after taste," it grumbled.

"Then… What are you going to do with me?" she asked. Sparks flew out of a hole in his left side and he flinched. "You're hurt?"

"It is not serious," he stated. "However, I should get it fixed," he started moving. Meanwhile, keeping the firm grasp he had on her arm.

"Where are you taking me?" she inquired, letting a bit of her worry creep into her voice.

"To someone who will know what we should do with you…" was his reply. Her stomach did a flip in response.


	2. Meeting the Maximals

She wasn't too keen on the idea of going anywhere with him. For a while she tried to go limp and just become dead weight but he didn't seem affected in the slightest. All it ended up doing was hurting her as she was dragged across the earth and sharp rocks. Feeling defeated, she struggled to get back to her feet. This proved to be nearly impossible. He was moving too fast and her feet couldn't keep up. Instead, she was forcefully dragged on her knees. After what seemed like hours, more like ten minutes, they came upon what appeared to be an alien space ship.

The space craft was enormous and foreboding. It reminded her way too much like the space ships she saw in alien horror movies. _Why did I watch them? At least I'd be ignorant of what horrors probably await me in that deathtrap._

Suddenly, he barked an order which caused her to jump in surprise. Luckily, he'd stopped long enough for her to get back to her feet.

"Sentinel, stand down!"

_Who's Sentinel? Is someone inside the ship? Comrades? Wait… More robots?_

What she saw next was shocking, to say the least. A green looking substance, which hadn't been there before, materialized around the outside of the craft and then appeared to simply fade away. _Is it some sort of shield? In all of those Sci Fi movies these things always had some sort of force field._

As soon as the stuff was gone the raptor started forward again. But she didn't want to go… Who knew what he was going to do to her once they were inside.

Since she wasn't being dragged she could properly plant her feet into the dirt. She strained against her captor's grasp but it didn't do any good until one of her feet struck a decent sized rock. This gave her enough leverage to stop, or just plain annoy, him.

He stopped to stare at her and even showed some teeth in aggravation. "Come on!" he demanded.

"No, let go of me!" she yelled hitting his arm. The only result was her hurting her own hand and he gave her an even more disgusted snarl.

"You act as if you have a choice in the matter," he growled and picked her clear up off of the ground. He started moving holding her up as if she were a ragdoll. It didn't matter what she wanted and this thought distressed her to no end.

They went under the ship and he stopped, even set her back on the ground. There was a metallic sound and she looked up to see some type of elevator come down from the ship. At least, that was her best guess. A new wave of panic hit her when it reached the ground.

"Let go! Let go! Let go!" she screamed and thrashed around.

"Would you shut up and hold still?" he held a firm grip on her arm and stepped onto the platform, effectively dragging her onto it as well.

"No! I don't want to be robo-chow!" she yelled.

"For the final time, I am not going to eat you! You foolish girl!" he shouted. Before she could react or retort the elevator lifted back up into the craft, taking the both of them with it.

~*~

Optimus Primal was usually an extremely patient bot. However, the current situation was trying his limits. They'd been attempting to reach Dinobot for the past twenty minutes. Either the raptor was choosing not to respond or something had happened. Of course, he hoped it was the former but knowing the Maximals' luck it was going to be the latter.

He would wait a few more minutes before he would head out to see what happened. If it turned out Dinobot had just refused to answer he'd better have a good reason.

"I'm sure he's fine, Optimus," Rhinox said sitting in his chair at the control panel. Just in case he was continuing to tap away at the computer keys scanning the area.

"I hope you're right," Primal stated getting ready to try and contact Dinobot again. "He was right on the border of Predacon territory."

At that precise moment they heard the elevator and turned to see it just as it lifted back up into the base. They could clearly see it was Dinobot…

"What is that?" Rhinox asked indicating the figure behind the ex-Predacon.

For once Optimus was at a loss for words. Dinobot's captive was a girl. A human girl with short shoulder length brown hair. She appeared to be five foot four and, (I'm not putting her weight because I think it's rude to tell a girl's exact mass. But she's around fifteen pounds above what she should be.) Her eyes were brown with gold speckled around the edges that matched her hair. She wore jeans that came a little ways past her knees, black converse, and a black sleeveless hoody with an aquamarine colored Japanese symbol on the front. Her eyes were huge and she glanced nervously between all of the bots in the room. Optimus didn't need to be an expert on humans to know she was frightened.

Dinobot got off the elevator but she stayed where she was. The Maximal leader approached her the way one would a scared animal.

"It's alright," he said in a calm gentle voice. He knelt down to her eye level so as not to appear intimidating. "We're not going to hurt you."

She remained where she was and even scouted back almost to where Dinobot's body blocked most of Optimus's view of her. From what he could see of her face he could tell she wasn't convinced. He began to wonder what had happened to her before Dinobot brought her into the base.

"Where did you find her?" boss monkey asked looking up at the raptor.

Dinobot let out a low snarl before answering. "I found her at the border."

The leader fought the urge to roll his optics. Looks like he'd have to keep asking questions seeing as Dinobot wasn't going to go into detail.

"Where did she come from?"

"The sky," the robo-raptor curtly stated.

"What does that exactly mean?" Rhinox asked.

"I mean she fell into my side," he answered. "I believe she was being chased by Predacons."

"Why do you think that?" Optimus inquired.

"After she plowed into me I encountered both Terrorsaur and Waspinator." He peered over his shoulder at her and she shrank back against the wall. "She was probably fleeing from them."

"Fleeing?" the leader asked. He looked back to her and she almost appeared to be trembling."Are you okay?"

She gulped and shockingly replied, "Y…yes. B..b-but all of y-you had b..better not come n..near me! I'm not afraid t-to use self-defense." She meant it as a threat but all of her stammering portrayed her fear.

"We're not going to harm you," the boss monkey soothingly told her. "We're your friends."

"I'm n…not stupid! You a-all j-just want to eat me."

Optimus looked at Dinobot once again in an accusatory manner. Before he could say anything Dinobot got the point and spoke up.

"I have not told her anything! She has been spotting that nonsense since I found her," the raptor stated indignantly.

"Then she must've has an unpleasant experience with the Predacons." The Maximal commander was still trying to look around the raptor and Dinobot didn't appreciate it. He moved out of the way and gave him a full view of her.

"I swear we're not going to eat or harm you in any way. There's no reason for you to fear us. We can help you," the boss monkey gently said.

She didn't like feeling so exposed and for a second considered following the robo-raptor. But then, her fear of him over road that instinct.

"I d…don't believe you."

The leader decided to use logic to try and reason with her. "If we'd wanted to hurt you we would have done so already," he lightly countered.

For a second it appeared she was pondering over what he'd told her. _Could he really be telling the truth? He does have a point. If they'd wanted to they could've killed me by now._

"Who and what are you?" she asked and had noticeably stopped stammering.

"I am Optimus Primal. Leader of the Maximals," he explained slowly getting back up as not to startle her.

"Maximals?" she inquired. "Are you guys some sort of robotic animals?" she looked up at him and moved an inch away from the elevator wall.

"Sort of," he replied. "May I know your name?"

"Eri Tsukika."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Now, let me introduce you to the others. This is Rhinox," he said indicating the large green, gold, and brown robot still sitting in the chair. He followed Primal's example and got up slowly to not startle the girl.

"Hi there."

_Holy cow .This guy is enormous._ Still, she inched a little further away from the wall and gave him a stretched smile. "Uh… Hi." Just then another bot came into the room.

"Hey, Big-bot what's up?" asked a spotted robot. She yelped and jumped behind Dinobot without thinking.

"What was that?" Cheetor asked.

"Not 'what' Cheetor. 'Who,'" the leader clarified. The cat attempted to look behind the raptor to no avail. Eri barely chanced a quick peek out from her hiding place before returning to her position.

"Well then 'who' is it?" the cheetah inquired slowly walking around the table, before Rhinox halted him.

"Her name is Eri Tsukika," the rhino explained.

Eri just realized who she'd ducked behind. He didn't look happy over the matter but she didn't want to move. _Just how many robots are there?_

"Eri," Optimus said, "You can come out. Cheetor won't hurt you." She hesitated and poked her head out. He smiled at her and waved.

"Nice to meet you," the younger sounding bot said. "If you ever want to get away from these boring bots I'm your cat. I know all the best places around here."

Steadily, she stepped out. Maybe it was his voice or friendly demeanor but he seemed to be 'ok' in her mind. Almost like he gave off a good vibe. He was better than the robo-raptor she'd been standing behind. She stepped a little further away from Dinobot subconsciously.

"How many of you are there?" she lightly questioned.

"Technically, there are six of us at the moment," Primal answered.

"Six of you?" _Then where's the other one? There's only five here._

"Yes, Rhinox, where's Rattrap?" the boss monkey inquired.

"Someone call me?" Right them Rattrap walked in in his animal form. When she noticed him she let out a squeaking yelp and bolted right into the open CR chamber.

"What in the name of my Great Aunt Arcee was that?" he asked putting his little hands to his ears. He cautiously scurried over to the chamber and peered inside.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed and aimed a kick at him but missed.

"Whoa!" the rat exclaimed backing up a bit. "Where did you find that?"

"Dinobot found her near Predacon territory," Optimus explained. "Apparently she was fleeing from them."

"Why would the Preds want that thing?" Rattrap asked.

"She is not a 'thing' Rattrap," Primal corrected slightly irritated by this point. "And **she** is a human girl."

"Human?" The rat was shocked at the information and changed into robot mode. He slowly walked back over to the CR chamber. This time Eri didn't kick him but starred at him in a new light. That didn't mean she still wasn't afraid but now she wasn't out of her mind terrified like she'd been before.

"She is a human but… What's one doin' here?" he asked looking at Optimus.

"I was hoping she would be able to explain," Primal answered. "All we know is how and where Dinobot found her."

Rattrap looked back into the chamber at the girl's cowering form. "No wonder she's scared then. First, the Preds were after her and then Old Chopperface showed up," the rat thought out loud.

"Don't feel bad," Cheetor piped up and stepped toward the chamber. "She pretty much had the same reaction when she saw me." Eri's face poked out at hearing the cat's voice but that was it. Seeing this Cheetor took the chance to talk to her. "You can come on out. Rattrap might smell bad but other than that he's an ok bot." The cat offered her his hand but she just looked at it.

"Cheetor's right," Optimus confirmed. "Rattrap won't harm you. Right, Rattrap?"

"Yeah yeah, sure thing, Boss Monkey," he replied.

Eri's face held a hint of disbelief but she suppressed most of her fear. Luckily, the rat took a hint and backed up from the chamber a little. Slowly, she took hold of the cat's hand and excited the chamber. When she looked over at the rat he gave her a half smile and waved. "Hey there," he said.

"Hi," she replied, keeping a decent distance from him.

Primal went over to the control table and beckoned her over. Eri started forward but then noticed something. "Um… Could you let go of my hand?" she asked Cheetor.

"Oh uh sure." He quickly dropped it and seemed to avert his gaze in embarrassment. She made her way over to the leader, while making sure to keep a safe from both Rattrap and Dinobot. It seemed she was loosening up to being around them but she glanced about nervously as if one of them would attack her at any second.

"Eri," Optimus softly said gaining her attention. "Do you know how you ended up here?"

"What do you mean?" she asked clearly confused.

"Do you have any clue how you ended up in this world?"

She nodded her head no. "I don't know. One second I'm walking through the park and the next thing…"

He noticed her hesitation. "Yes?" he prompted.

"There was this huge storm, a twister. I was sucked up into it. The next thing I know I fell on top of that red flying robot."

"Hm. Must've been Terrorsaur. Did you happen to see anything before the storm?" he asked. "Or did the storm itself appear strange? Like is could be a time warp or something?"

Her face lit up in remembrance. "The storm itself is strange for the area but before I was sent flying there was this sphere."

"Sphere?"

"Yeep, it was the size of a softball," she indicated the size with her hands. "It was black and had strange blue symbols all over it."

"Anything else you can recall about it?" the leader persisted.

"Well, when I touched it I received a heck of a shock. So I dropped it and the last I saw it flew off into the storm. Later, I did notice the exact same glow from it," she exclaimed.

"Hmmmm. Dinobot did you see anything strange lying around?"

"Negative," was the raptor's curt reply. "I was too busy fighting off Predacons before I brought her here. I did not have time to investigate matters."

"We'll have to look into this further. But first, you need to get into the CR chamber for repairs. I'll organize a scouting party after you're fixed," the leader said. "We will search for this sphere and any other anomalies in the area you found her," the Boss monkey continued. "As for now, I think it would be best if we made our guest fell comfortable."

"Good idea, Big Bot," the cat agreed. "Come on, Eri," Cheetor cheerfully said putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll give you the grand tour."

His upbeat attitude put her nerves a little more at ease. She slowly nodded and said, "O…Okay," as he lead her out of the control room.

Primal waited until the two left before he turned to Dinobot. "You were right to bring her here. I'm glad you thought to."

The ex-Predacon made that sound again. "I thought you would know what to do with her. She is clearly out of character for this place and time period," Dinobot explained. "I did not think you would want her in Predacon hands."

"You're right. Who knows what Megatron would do. I just hope he doesn't find out about her."

~*~

"What? You found a human? Here?" Megatron loudly exclaimed once Waspinator, Terrorsaur, and Tarantuals reported in from their scouting mission.

"It's true. I saw her with my own optics," Tarantulas stated.

"Where?" the T-rex asked leaning a bit forward in his chair.

"Around Sector 9," Terrorsaur answered pulling up a digital map and marking the position.

"Terror-bot would know seeing as female fleshy bot landed right on top of him," Waspinator piped up.

"The human landed right on top of you and you still failed to capture her?" Megatron growled.

"It…It wasn't my fault sir! She just fell out of nowhere and these two couldn't grab her either!" Terrorsaur protested.

"I could have captured her if you hadn't been trying to kill her," Tarantulas countered.

"I wasn't trying to kill her!" the flyer attempted to explain seeing Megatron's anger growing. "I was merely trying to scare her!"

"Don't even try to defend yourself, you trigger-happy…" the spider began to rant before he was interrupted.

"Enough!" Megatron yelled slamming his fist down onto his chair. "I don't care about your excuses. Seeing as you didn't kill her, where is she?"

The flyer and the spider were busy glaring at each other so Waspinator spoke up. "Lizard-bot protected female fleshy-bot."

"So, the traitor got involved. No doubt he took her back to the Maximal base," the Predacon leader pondered sounding eerily calm.

"So what are we going to do about the human?" Terrorsaur asked.

"Yes, Lord Megatron. What are we going to do?" the spider added.

Megatron leaned back in his chair and looked at the arm that was the T-rex head. Its eyes looked up at him before going back to their original position. "We will let the Maximals have her for now," he stated. "When the time is right we will strike and take her from them. She will be very useful for us, yeeeesssss."


	3. First Night

The cat gave her the grand tour of the ship. Most it consisted of storage rooms filled with boxes of supplies. Whenever they came to one of the Maximal's rooms he was sure to let her know.

"And this is my room," he said pressing a button on a small panel that opened the door. He walked in and there was a 'crack'. They both looked down to see he'd stepped on something. "Sorry about the mess," he apologized sliding it and a couple other items that littered the floor into a corner.

Eri peeked inside and barely took a tentative step forward when he motioned it was ok for her to enter. She noticed, what must've been, spare parts he'd kicked into the corner. On a small stand was a picture of Cheetor and Optimus framed. Other than that she didn't notice what she would consider 'personal' items. Although the room was better lit than the others they'd been in it still seemed a bit gloomy and desolate. She wanted to comment on this but thought against it. It was rude to make comments on how people, or robots in this case, lived. What if they all just lived like this? Eri didn't want to inadvertently offend one of the bots who was going out of his way to be nice to her. _Why is he even bothering with this? I'm just boring him and wasting his time. He probably has more pressing or important things he'd rather be doing._

Cheetor stopped talking once he noticed she wasn't responding and had a despondent look on her face. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh… Um," she stammered caught off guard. "It's nothing. Please continue." He clearly knew something was bothering her and the fake smile plastered on her face proved it.

"Come on," he gently prompted. "You can tell me." The look on his face lead her to believe he just wasn't going to let this go.

"Well…" she began. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" he asked, clearly confused.

"What I mean is… Why are you bothering to show me around your base?" she inquired looking around but not directly up at him. "You have better things to do than 'play nice' with some little human."

"Whao, hold it," he said interrupting her. "Now where would you get an idea like that? I do not have more important things to do. Besides, I'm not 'playing'. I'm doing this because I want to."

"But why?" she countered.

"I already told you, it's because I want to."

"Yeah, but… How could you 'want to'? I know I'm not the best person to be around."

"Don't say that," the cheetah said, causing her to face him. "What would cause you to make you say such a thing?"

"People just don't like me very much. At least, that's what they say," she explained.

"Who exactly?"

"Everyone I really know. My peers and so called 'family'." _All except one._

"Well, they're all wrong," he told her like he was making an obvious statement. "I've only known you a little while but I don't dislike you. In fact, I think you're pretty cool," he put a hand on her shoulder for emphasis.

"Really?" she said in disbelief. "I don't think I'm cool."

"You don't have to feel cool in order to be it," he told her smiling. "Take it from the master and remember it the next time someone treats you badly."

Eri couldn't help but smile and let out a small laugh. "I will. Thanks Cheetor. How'd you get so good at giving advice?"

They left his room and started walking down the hallway again. He kept his hand lightly on her shoulder but she didn't brush him off.

"Like I said, I'm the master. Now, on with the tour."

~*~

Dinobot was recuperating in the CR chamber and Cheetor was still giving Eri a tour. This left the rest of the Maximal crew time to think over the entire matter.

"Have you ever heard of a device like the one Eri described?" Optimus asked Rhinox.

"No," Rhinox thought going through Sentinal's records. "I'm not even sure Cybertron has such technology."

"Whadaya mean?" Rattrap inquired.

"Well, this device would have had to displace her in both time and location. Even Cybertron's top scientists haven't come close to developing ways of teleportation or time travel. We only know it's even plausible after the incident with Cheetor and that storm," Rhinox explained.

"But how do we even know this 'sphere' had anything to do with her poppin' up here?" the rat countered.

"She has no reason to lie to us," the leader stated.

"I didn't say she was lyin' but what about the storm she was talkin' about?" the rat asked.

"You do have a point," the rhino interjected. "For all we do know that 'storm' was responsible for her bringing her here. The 'sphere' could be incidental."

"Or it could have acted like a catalyst during the storm and aided in her transportation. Much like the ship's control panels and the energon reserves," Primal reasoned.

"Could be. I'd have to do a preliminary scan before I make any assumptions," Rhinox stated. He noticed Primal glanced out of one of the widows and knew something was troubling his friend. "What else is on your mind?"

"It'll be getting dark soon," Primal replied.

"So?" Rattrap countered.

"So, humans do not function very well at night," Rhinox stated.

"I'm still not gettin' it. How does that affect us?" the rat inquired.

"Dinobot's repairs are taking longer than originally anticipated. I planned on everyone accompanying him and Eri to where he found her," the leader answered.

"Keep goin'. Why would we need to bring her along on this little jaunt?"

"She's the only one who knows what to look for. Dinobot didn't get a chance to really check out his surroundings."

"And Eri's the only one who knows what this 'sphere' looks like," the rat finished.

"Exactly. We run the risk of overlooking something at night. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow when she can properly see," Optimus finished.

Rhinox let out a sigh. "She may not take this news very well."

"I know, but it cannot be helped," Primal replied.

~*~

"Before we head back to the control room I want to show you one more thing," Cheetor spoke up.

"What's that?" Eri asked.

They stopped in the hallway in front of a door. To her it looked exactly like all of the other bedroom doors she'd seen.

"I just wanted to give you a heads up about this room," he replied pushing a few buttons on the control panel. The door opened to reveal a rather unremarkable room. The only furniture was a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. In one corner was a desk and computer.

"What's different about this room?" she questioned. "It looks like the others."

"This is Dinobot's room," he answered. He hit the buttons again and the door closed. "I thought I'd tell you it's not a good idea to go in there."

"Dinobot?" she inquired racking her brain. "Is he the raptor with that sword made out of teeth?"

"That's him alright."

"If he's w-who I think he is… I-I wouldn't want to go in there at all," she said with a hint of her nervous stammer. "He s-scares me. He looks like he wants to eat me."

"You don't have to worry about that," he reassured her. "Dinobot might not be the easiest bot to get along with and he might scare you but he won't at you. Just give him a chance. He's an alright bot once you get to know him."

"B-be that as it may… I'm still not going anywhere near him or his room," she said backing away from the door a bit.

"Okay," the cat said walking over to join her. "I just thought I'd warn you."

"Thank you," she replied. "Now I know what areas to avoid."

"Yeah. We'd better head back and see what Boss-bot's plan is," he started walking.

"Do you think they can find a way to send me back?" she began matching his pace.

"If anyone can it'd be Rhinox and Optimus," was his confident reply.

~*~

Dinobot stepped out of the CR chamber to find Rhinox and Rattrap at the control panels. Optimus was staring at some scan of the area. All three looked up when he stepped out.

"What is our status?" Dinobot aksed.

"Not even a 'hello' first, chopperface?" Rattrap taunted.

"Stifle it, vermin," the raptor sneered back at him. "When do we leave?" he directed his question at Optimus.

"Change of plans. We'll head out first thing in the morning," the leader replied.

"What? And let the Predacons seize the area?" Dinobot indignantly stated.

"Cool it. The little lady you brought home won't be able to help in the dark," the rat explained.

"And why exactly so we need the assistance of that cowering human?" the raptor asked not missing a beat.

Optimus let out a tired sigh. This was going to be a long night.

~*~

Eri and Cheetor were on their way back to the control room when they started hearing voices. At first they couldn't make out anything but unintelligible murmurs. However, as they got closer the voices proved to be very distinct.

"I do not see why we must cater to the whims of such a helpless creature!" a voice yelled. It was clearly the same tone Eri was so terrified of.

"We are not 'catering to whims', another voice countered.

"Then what would you call it, fearless leader?" the first interrupted.

Cheetor easily distinguished the voices. " Hm. I wonder what Boss-bot and Dinobot are arguing about," he pondered out loud.

"I don't think I want to know," Eri stated inching backward. She didn't want anything to do with Dinobot. Let alone be in the same room as him.

"Why not?" the cheetah inquired. He placed his arm behind her to keep her from backing up. "What if they found a way to send you back?"

"Uh…"

"Come on," he stated gently pushing her rigid form forward.

"I really don't want to," she lightly whined.

"It'll be fine," he reassured her still pushing. "I'll be right there with you."

That did make her feel a little better. Plus, curiosity was starting to get to her. _What did the raptor mean by 'catering to whims?'_ They stepped into the room to see Optimus and Dinobot glaring at one another across the control panel. Both seemed to have determined, and angry looks etched onto their faces. _What has them so mad at each other?_

Cheetor seemed to be thinking the same thing because he was the first to break the tension filled silence. "What's going on?" he asked.

The two bots broke their stare down to look over at the younger bot and the timid girl beside him. Dinobot went right back to glaring at Optimus after his quick scan of the two. The Maximal leader affectively ignored him to answer the cat. "I was just informing Dinobot about a change of plans."

"What change?" the younger bot inquired.

"It involves you," Primal said looking at Eri.

"Me?" she curiously said.

He let out a small sigh and heard Rattrap mutter, 'Not this again,' before answering. "I'm sorry Eri but it seems you'll be here a little longer than I originally thought."

"What do you mean?" she worriedly asked.

Once again, the Maximal leader explained about the lateness of the hour. Of course, Cheetor was rather clueless, as the others had been, about what this meant. Rhinox filled him in for Optimus's sake.

"Can't you guys see in the dark though?" Eri asked once they were finished.

"Precisely!" Dinobot interrupted a bit loudly. Eri stepped a little behind Cheetor like he'd protect her. "Why do we not leave the girl here and secure the perimeter?" the raptor stated.

"Because, dinobutt, we need the little ladies eyes to find that sphere," Rattrap piped up. "We leave her here and we might never find it."

"Are you saying she is more adequate than me at finding a mundane object?" Dinobot took a step closer to the rat.

In return, Rattrap got up out of his seat and closed the distance between the two. Even poked the raptor in the chest plate. "What if I am, lizardlips?"

"Stop it, the both of you," Optimus shoved the two apart. "My decision is final and I don't want to hear any arguing about this again." Eri could discern the firmness and commanding tone in the Maximal leader's voice. She also noticed the two backed up and didn't even grumble in annoyance. Although, she did take note of the death glares they sent each other.

"Are you alright, Eri?" Cheetor asked. _Uh oh. I must look like I'm spacing out or something._

"Ow I'm fine," she quickly covered.

"I know this must be trying for you," Primal stated. His tone completely changed from what it had been only a few seconds ago. Now it held sympathy and a certain gentleness. _How can he change his entire demeanor so quickly?_

"It's alright. You're right and it's not your fault I can't see in the dark."

Optimus was a bit shocked, and relieved, at how well she seemed to be taking her situation. However, he also believed she was concealing much of her emotions for their sakes.

"Ultra gear," the cat interrupted patting Eri on her shoulder. "You can stay in my room tonight."

"That's thoughtful, Cheetor, but I was thinking she could stay in one of the extra rooms."

"Thank you," Eris said a bit relieved at Optimus's quick save. She did like Cheetor, he was an extremely friendly bot, but she thought it would be awkward for her to stay in the same room with him since she was a girl and he was a boy. _Wait… Is he a boy? He sounds like one but how do I know if they all sound masculine? What if they're all boys and there are no girls? What if they don't even have separate sexes? Oh, this is so confusing._

"Cheetor, I think it would be best if you show Eri to her room," the robotic ape said upon seeing a tired look on her face. "It's been a long day for her."

"Sure thing." The cheetah started leading her out of the room.

"Goodnight," she politely called looking over her shoulder at the other bots. All of them responded with a 'Goodnight' in return. With the acception of Cheetor currently leading her and Dinobot who didn't even look at her.

Once the two left the room Rattrap spoke up. "Jeesh, could you have been any nicer to her, brontobrain?" he criticized.

"It is no concern of yours, vermin," Dinobot snarled.

~*~

"Hope this is alright," the cheetah said opening the door.

The room was just as gloomy as all of the others but she didn't have the heart to tell him. Plus, she was so tired she really didn't care if it was dark and barren.

"It's fine," she yawned.

"Well…" he stated scratching the back of his head.

"Thanks for everything, Cheetor," Eri smiled at him warily.

"No prob. Um, see you tomorrow," he answered with a smile of his own.

"Night," she said stepping into the room.

"Night," he replied leaving. A second later the door closed and she collapsed on the bed, or as Cheetor had mentioned 'birth'.

"Ow," Eri groaned. She was exhausted but sleep was probably not going to come easily for her on that slab of cold metal. At the very least, she wished she had her backpack to use as a pillow but it had been lost in the storm. Secretly, she hoped they'd find it tomorrow but doubted it would actually happen. _All of my stuff is probably back in the park being picked through by some stranger._ A heavy sigh left her drained form.

After fiddling with some nearby switches for a minute she managed to turn the lights in the room off. As the space was engulfed in darkness she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes. Although her body didn't like the fact it was lying on metal, fatigue eventually overtook her and she drifted off into a deep sleep.


	4. Schemes and Restrooms?

Miles away.

"My, my these are certainly interesting," a scratchy voice said. The spider picked up a rather small object that had an extremely tiny screen on it and equally minuscule buttons in a circle on the front. Coming out were two cables. More items were spread out across his lab table. They had all originated from a certain backpack centered on his main table.

The bot let out a maniacal laugh. "I can't wait to see how she'll look with my new collection," he cackled before getting back to his work.

~*~

At the Predacon base.

"Terror-bot need to calm down," Waspinator said buzzing around his wing-mate.

"As if I'm going to just let some human make me look like a fool," the flyer screeched in return.

"But Megatron ordered us to wait."

"I don't care what he said. Besides, if we grab the meat-bag and bring her back here he might reward us," the red bot continued.

"Waspinator not sure…"

"It's a foolproof plan. You distract the Maximals, I'll sneak in, grab the girl, and we come back to base. It's simple," Terrorsaur reassured the wasp. The flyer then transformed into his beast mode and began flying in the direction of the enemy's ship.

"Terror-bot going to get us in trouble," Waspinator muttered flying after him.

~*~

Back at the Maximal Base.

She was surrounded by pitch blackness. It seemed as if she was suspended in nothingness before it loosened its hold on her. Suddenly, she was free falling into an endless darkness. Eri tried to scream but it was as if she couldn't even breathe. Her entire body felt numb and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't even move her fingers.

A soft blue glow pierced the void above her without any warning. Using all of her willpower she managed to extend her arms toward it. She finally found her breathe… And she screamed with all of her might.

Eri bolted upright in bed. Her heart felt as if it was beating a million miles per hour and she was covered in a cold sweat. For about a minute she just sat there attempting to calm herself down and return her breathing back to normal. This gave her eyes time enough to adjust and she realized with a start she wasn't in her room. Two seconds later she remembered everything and let out a long sigh. "What a nightmare."

Slowly, she laid back down on the metal slab and tried to go back to sleep. Until she realized she had to go to the bathroom. She didn't even bother turning the lights back on as she got up and opened the door. However, as soon as she was in the hallway she was at a loss about where to go. _Cheetor didn't show me where the bathrooms are… Wait, maybe they don't even have one. In that case I am so screwed._

Five minutes later Eri was still meandering around the ship. _Man, I really have to go._ She turned a corner and ran straight into someone. Nose first.

"Ow!" she gripped her nose to stop it from throbbing.

"Wow. Are you alright little lady?" a concerned voice asked.

"Rattrap!" she let go of her throbbing appendage and looked up at him. "Oh uh," Eri realized he'd asked her a question. "I'm fine. Sorry for running into you," she apologetically bowed.

"Eh, no prob. I'm a lot tougher than I look," he explained. As if to emphasize his point he tapped his chest and it made a metallic sound. "But what are you doin' up and about? Normally, I'm the only one roaming around this late," he inquired.

A slight blush crept onto her face. She didn't want to tell him but he might be able to help her. "Well, I have to go."

"Go? Go where?"

_I didn't think he might not understand the metaphor!_ Eri felt so embarrassed she wanted to literally crawl under a rock. "You know… Go"

He cocked his helm as if he was deep in thought. Then his face lit up with acknowledgment as if he'd had a 'eureka' moment. "Oh, that go."

"Yeah. I was wondering if you could help me find the restroom. Cheetor didn't show me where they were earlier."

"That could be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't have any," he bluntly stated.

"Really?" Eri had a defeated and disbelieving look plastered across her face.

"You see were not built the same way you humans are. I don't think you want me to go into too much detail." She shook her head agreeing with him, as fascinating as they all were she didn't need to know everything. "Afraid you'll have to go outside."

"A-alone?"

"Don't worry. I'll go with ya," he reassured her.

"Are you sure? I don't want to bother you."

"It's no big deal. I need some fresh air anyway, just follow me." With that he led her to the main control room and into the elevator. When they hit the ground most of the area surrounding the ship was shrouded in darkness. However, there was some light that resonated out of the elevator shaft.

She spotted on outcrop of rocks and figured that was as good a place as any. _I can't believe I've been reduced to this._

"Um, will you turn the other way?" she asked walking toward the rocks.

"No prob. I'll stand right here and won't look." He faced the other way to give her some privacy. When she finished and came out from behind the boulders he was still facing the opposite direction.

~*~

"Why is Waspinator always the distraction?" the bug whined. Both him and Terrorsaur were perched on the mountain near the Maximal base.

"Quit your complaining. Look, they let the human out and only one Maximal is guarding her. Now get you aft moving!" With that he pushed his wing-mate out of their hiding spot.

"Oh Waspinator has a bad felling about this," the green Pred muttered flying toward the ship.

~*~

_For some reason I can't shake the feeling I'm being watched. But I know it's not from Rattrap._ There was an eerily familiar buzzing behind her. She jerked around to see the giant bee from earlier.

"Waspinator, Terrrorize!" It transformed in midair and began firing at them.

"Holy!" Eri screeched running at a dead sprint for the ship.

Rattrap grabbed his own weapon and shot behind her. "Eri! Get back on the ship," he yelled leaping off the elevator and bolting toward her.

"Waspinator doesn't think so," the bug-bot stated blowing up the ground right in front of her. This forced her to veer off to the left and away from the elevator.

Rattrap had to keep dodging and firing himself in an attempt to draw his attention. "Stinken Pred," he said as the wasp just kept dodging in midair. He alternated between shooting the Maximal and keeping Eri from reaching the ship.

"Leave the girl alone ya overgrown scrapheap!" the rat yelled diving right to avoid being blasted. He managed to hit the Predacon and send him spiraling toward the ground but the wasp managed to upright himself at the last second. He continued his barrage only this time he strictly aimed at the human.

To avoid being hit Eri ducked behind a rock. Two seconds later a part of the boulder blew off where it had been hit.

"What is with all of the shooting!" she shouted.

"It looks like we met again," a familiar screechy voice said above her. She looked up to see the red robot she'd plowed into the previous day. He had a sinister demeanor and a creepy smile spread across his face as he went to grab her. "Now come here you little meat-bag," he snarled snatching her arm before she could run.

A split second later she let out an earsplitting scream and thrashed around with all her might. Terrorsaur had been a little ill prepared for her response and jerked back a bit. However, her fighting did nothing to him and he merely gripped her arm tighter. Of course, the other two heard her. Rattrap immediately sprang into action. He shot Waspinator dead on in his chest plate, while he was distracted, and sent him careening into a nearby rock. Then he turned his weapon on the other flyer.

"Let her go ya piece of scrap," he threatened. "Or…"

"Or you'll do what?" the Pred countered. "If you were going to shoot me you would've done it already." Wisely, the Maximal didn't reply. "You're too afraid of hitting this flesh-bag aren't you?" the flyer taunted jostling Eri around for emphasis. She let out a tiny whimper.

"Slaggin'…"

"I wouldn't if I were you," the Predacon gripped her tighter and placed her in front of him. The rat stopped talking and slowly lowered his weapon. "That's better."

"Don't do it Rattrap," Eri spoke up.

"Shut up you little fleshy!" Terrorsaur screeched at her. "I don't know what Megatron thinks you'll be good for…"

He had moved his gaze from the Maximal as he scolded her. Those precious few seconds were all Rattrap needed. He aimed and fired, clipping the flyer in his shoulder right above the arm that was holding her. Unfortunately, the robotic dinosaur seemed dead set on his mission. Even with pain radiating through his frame he kept his hold on her. However, his grip had noticeably loosened.

"That was very foolish rat," the angered flyer sneered raising his own gun. "I think I'll return the favor. And don't even think of dodging because if you do I'll shoot her instead." As if to stress his point he aimed the muzzle right at Eri's head.

In defeat, Rattrap holstered his weapon and stood there. "Take you best shot ya glitch."

_I can't just stand here!_ She happened to glance down and noticed a decent sized rock near her foot. Now all she needed was a chance to grab it.

Terrorsaur took his sweet time in raising his gun. A victorious sneer spread across his face. Right before he could pull the trigger a heavy metallic sound resonated from the ship. Everyone looked over to see Rhinox standing on the elevator platform, weapons in hand.

He pointed the biggest guns Eri had ever seen in her life in Terrorsaur's direction. "Nobody move," he warned.

"You Maximals are such a pain," the exasperated flyer stated. "Unless you're stupid or blind you'll lower your weapons." Eri bent down unnoticed and snatched the rock. "Trust me, if you don't blast the human…" He didn't get the chance to finish as she brought the rock up and hit his injured shoulder.

"Awww!" he yelled in pain finally relinquishing his grip. As soon as he did she sprinted toward Rattrap. In fury he went to blast her… But never got the chance as numerous bullets racked his entire form.

The rat grabbed the girl and ran back to the elevator as Rhinox opened fire on the pompous flyer. He placed her on the elevator as he went to aid Rhinox in his assault. By now the rhino was using both of his weapons and progressively stepped closer.

In order to keep himself from being completely obliterated Terrorsaur dived behind a couple boulders which wouldn't last long. "Beast mode," he moaned transforming. "Retreat," he called taking to the air as quickly as possible.

He still got pelted a good bit as he flew away but not enough to take him down. The forgotten Waspinator groaned from where he'd fallen and saw his comrade fleeing. "Wait for me," the bug said going into beast mode and buzzing after his wing-mate. However, Rattrap managed to get one final shot at him before they disappeared.

Eri let out a sigh of relief watching their retreating forms but had the sickening feeling this wouldn't be her last encounter with them.

"You alright, Eri?" Rattrap's question knocked her back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded absentmindedly rubbing her arm. A bruise was starting to form where he'd grabbed her.

"You sure?" he prompted. All she did was nod in response and give him a half smile.

"I'm glad for that." The both of then turned to Rhinox. "That could've gotten ugly back there. Now it's all settled would someone mind filling me in on what happened?"

"Sure thing, but I think we should probably go inside first," the rat suggested.

"Good idea," the rhino countered and Eri nodded in agreement. She was more than glad to ride the elevator this time.

When they got back into the control room all of the Maximals, and ex-pred, were there waiting for them.

"What was all that noise?" Cheetor asked.

Optimus noticed Eri holding her sore arm and got concerned. "What happened out there?"

As if on cue Cheetor noticed the same thing he had and was at her side in a second. "Are you hurt, Eri?"

"How many were there in this opportunistic attack?" the raptor interrupted.

"Hold on there," Rattrap said. "I'll start at the beginning."

She'd hoped this was going to be quick so she could go back to bed and escape the embarrassment of the entire situation. All of the terror and adrenaline had been drained out of her and she felt exhausted. Not to mention her arm had begun to throb. A tired sigh escaped her and she braced herself for a lengthy explanation.

~*~

Sometime later, everyone had been briefed on the entire situation. Eri swayed on her feet from exhaustion. Luckily, Rattrap glossed over the fact about her having to go to the restroom and she said it was 'a human thing'. Everyone left it at that. Her arm had stopped hurting but there were marks from his fingers embedded into her skin. It was turning a sickening bluish purple.

She was close to passing out but the others were busy conversing.

"How could you have taken her out there by yourself, Rattrap?" Cheetor berated.

"How was I supposed to know we were going to be attacked by a couple of sneaky preds?" he defended.

"I told you we should have seized the area. Those two were probably scouts and Megatron is flaunting his hold. If you had listened…" Dinobot ranted.

"This is not the time for such a discussion," Rhinox said.

Primal took in all of the tirades as everyone tried to converse at once. Each blaming the other for something or defending their position. He happened to look over and noticed Eri was about ready to pass out. He cleared his throat and broke up the nonsense.

"Alright, it's been a long night for everyone. Now go recharge, we'll need it to be alert for tomorrow. When we will all properly discuss matters. Cheetor, would you mind escorting Eri to her room?" the leader politely asked seeing Eri sway a bit.

"Actually…" she spoke up for the first time during the entire discussion. "Can Rattrap go with me?" Her usual tameness disregarded in her foggy mind.

Optimus quirked a brow seeing as she was so wary of her earlier but quickly understood. "I don't see why not. Rattrap?" the leader inquired.

"Sure thing boss-monkey." He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on little lady."

She gently smiled at him and followed.

"What was that all about?" Cheetor asked scratching his helm in confusion. "Why is she 'buddy buddy' with him now? I thought she was terrified of him."

"Think about it," Rhinox stated putting his guns away. "He was willing to stand there and get blasted for her."

"Good point."

"That human is more trouble than she is worth," Dinobot spoke up.

"Dinobot," the cheetah started.

"Enough," Optimus stated. "We will discuss all of this in the morning when we are all able to think straight."

With that simple sentence everyone headed off to their rooms in the hope of finally being able to get some much needed recharge.

~*~

They walked through the halls of the ship quietly. Until Rattrap spoke up.

"Eri?"

"Yes?" she asked looking at him.

"Mind if I ask you somethin'?"

"About what?"

"Why were you so freaked out when you saw my beast mode earlier? I'll admit it's probably not somethin' you see every day but I've gotta look better than dinobutt," he inquired.

For a second she thought about what he was talking about. He mistook it for nervousness.

"Sorry 'bout that. You don't have to answer it if you don't feel like it," he quickly added.

"That's not it. It's just taking me a bit to think about it. My mind kinda gets fuzzy on me when I'm tired." As if to stress the point she let out a yawn before continuing. "You are less scary than robo-raptor but my mind overreacted. You see I like to watch horror movies back home. I'm not even sure why because they freak me out so much but I've seen a ton of them. In one of them there were rats in this insane asylum. Some doctor was controlling this really big one and the normal sized ones followed it. Long story short, it ate a good amount of people before the end."

"Well that explains why you didn't like me very much. I wouldn't either."

She stopped and respectfully bowed in apology. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have judged you by your appearance."

He stopped and looked at her with a smile on his face. "It's alright. You were stuck in a strange place and had no idea who we were. You apologize too much," he bluntly stated walking again. "Although, I do like your new name for lizardlips."

"Robo-raptor?"

"Yeah," he said letting out a small chuckle.

Pretty soon they stood outside her room and she'd never been more thankful to be sleeping on a hunk of metal in a poorly lit room. _Never thought I'd think that._

"Well, I'll see ya in the mornin'," he stated waving as he walked away.

"Rattrap."

"Yes?" he asked stopping and looking back at her.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything."

"Eh, no big deal."

"B-but," she started.

"You're welcome. Now get some sleep little lady. You've had a long day."

She nodded and stepped through the doorway. Before it closed she said, "Thank you for saving me."

Little did she know even though the statement was little more than a sigh and he was clear down the hall… He'd heard it loud and clear. Although he didn't notice it as light smile spread across his face.

~*~

"Waspinator told Terror-bot it was a bad idea."

The flyers were back at the ship and in the process of sneaking to their CR baths.

"Oh, shut it. We almost had her."

"Almost. Megatron's going to be so angry."

"He won't be is he doesn't find out," Terrorsaur whispered as they neared their destination.

"Find out what?" a voice said behind them.

They turned around to see their leader standing menacingly behind them.

"Uh Megatron!" the red flyer exclaimed.

"Were you thinking I would not find out about you two imbeciles failed attempt?" Megatron growled.

"No no no… We just," Terrorsaur stammered backing up along with the wasp.

"You both just thought you'd go against my orders and snatch the human right out from under the Maximal scum," Megs finished for him. "It amazes me how you completely disregarded my plan. Obviously, yours worked out so much better," he stated sarcastically indicating all of their dents and broken parts. "The Maximals will be more on edge now. Being wound up so much mistakes are bound to occur on their part. Yeeessss." He went from hovering over them to reclining back in his control chair. "It appears you two may be of some use after all."

The flyers looked at each other and then back to him.

"However, disregard direct orders again and you'll be begging for another round at the Maximal base."

They both did their first clever act all night.

"Of course, Megatron," Terrorsaur said.

"It'll never happen again," Waspinator added. "Even if it wasn't Waspinator plan to begin with," he mumbled. In return, his wing-mate elbowed him in his chest-plate.

Megs went on without regard to those two.

"Despite this little setback… We will continue as originally planned. Tomorrow," he stated loud enough for all of his follows to hear, "we will pay this human and her new friends a visit."


	5. Something gained and Something Lost

The Maximals got a lucky break and were allowed to sleep in peace the rest of the night. By no means was Eri an early riser. In fact, she loved to sleep in as much as humanly possible. So it was rather odd when she awoke at the crack of dawn. (No, it was not because she had to go to the bathroom again or because she had another nightmare.) It was her complaining stomach.

She should've expected it considering she hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous day. _This wouldn't be an issue if I had my backpack. I'm pretty sure I at least had a bag of chips shoved in there somewhere. Oh, well. No use thinking about it. I'll only make these hunger pains worse._

Stiffly, she got up and stretched. Eri was sure her back had bruises from the 'birth'. Once she straightened her clothes as best she could and ran her hands through her hair she went out into the hallway. She'd been lead to the control room so many times she was able to find her way there by herself. When she entered all of the Maximals, except Cheetor, were already present.

Rattrap was the first to notice her. "Well mornin' there little lady."

"Morning," she replied sleepily. Rhinox and Optimus gave her courteous nods but all Dinobot did was give out an irritated growl. She managed to avoid him and stood near the rat as he brought up scans of the area. "When do we leave?" she asked.

"Dinobot relayed where he first ran into you," Primal stated. A blip appeared on a 3-D virtual image on the control panel.

"Then why are we wasting time?" the raptor banged his fist down on the table.

"We can't just walk blindly into this," the leader calmly countered. "Those flyers clearly wanted Eri last night. Megatron must want her and is willing to try any and all of his tactics to get her."

"Why?" Eri interrupted. "Why would he want me?"

"Because you're human," Primal simply stated.

A confused look spread across her face. "I'm sorry, I still don't understand. What's so special about me being a human?"

"You're the only one we've ever seen," Rhinox spoke up.

"And you're the first Maximals I've seen," she countered. As previously stated, Eri is not a morning person.

"Eri, where we come from there are no humans. You're the only one we've seen on or off this planet," Optimus continued.

"I'm not on Earth anymore… Am I?" she inquired.

"No. This planet might have similar aspects but we believe it is not Earth."

Suddenly, she felt dizzy. Not only did she run into alien robots but she may not even be on her own planet anymore?

"However, our ancestors did," he continued. "I won't go into too much detail but humans aided them centuries ago. But in our time there are no more of your species."

"So I'm not only on another planet… But I'm from the past?"

"I know it might be difficult to accept but this is our current theory," Rhinox stated.

"B-but… How could a ball transport me through space and time!" she exclaimed. _This isn't Land of the Lost for crying out loud._

"We're not sure how yet but if we find it we might be able to reverse the effects," Primal attempted to reassure her.

"Then let's find this thing," Cheetor said entering the room. He held his gun fully loaded in his hand.

"Finally! We may actually be getting somewhere," an exasperated Dinobot exclaimed.

"Alright. Dinobot will guide us to the coordinates. From there…"

The excited cat didn't give the Maximal leader time to finish as he spoke up. "Eri will lead the way." As if for emphasis he put a hand on her shoulder and started heading for the elevator.

"Wait Cheetor! We can't…"

"The time for waiting and planning is over big-bot. Now is the time to act! Right, Eri?" At this point they were both in the elevator and he'd hit the button to go down.

"Oh, um," she nervously stammered as it closed. Before she, or anyone else, could say anything it lowered them outside. Primal rubbed the area between his optics as he felt the beginnings of a processorache.

"Think he'll even try to take this mission seriously?" Rhinox asked.

"Eh, no chance. Spots is eager and trigger-happy as ever. Especially with a certain little femme around," Rattrap emphasized.

"Now is not the time for banter," Dinobot interrupted. "For once the fur-ball is right." The raptor got in the elevator after it came back up and lowered himself down.

"It's gonna be a long solar cycle," Rhinox said for the other two Maximals.

"Yeah, but at least it'll be entertainin'," the rat stated.

~*~

Ten minutes later.

All of the Maximals and ex Predacon were in beast mode but on high alert.

"So the energon on this planet screws up your systems?" Eri inquired. Cheetor thought it was prevalent to tell Eri all he could about their situation. The others commented when needed.

"Yeep. That's why we have our beast modes," he answered.

Suddenly, Dinobot let out a disgusted snarl that made Eri jump.

"What's the problem chopperface?" Rattrap asked.

"We are getting nowhere at this rate! The girl is slowing us down," Dinobot replied.

_Well excuse me for being human._

"Jeesh, cool it Dinobot. She can't walk as fast as us," Cheetor took up for her. In return, she gave him a gracious smile.

"I still say we should have left her back at the base," the raptor grumbled.

"Sorry I'm so slow guys," she apologized with her head down.

"Don't worry about it. Dinobutt here just has his circuits crossed," Rattrap stated walking beside her.

"If you want to you could hitch a ride with me," Cheetor asked.

Her face clearly reflected her disbelief. _Did he just say what I think he did?_ "But I'm too heavy," she exclaimed. He was only a little bit bigger than what she considered a normal cheetah would be. Though she'd never seen one in real life before, just on documentaries. "I'd break your back!"

At that, most of the Maximals, with the acception of Dinobot, chuckled.

"You have to remember we're much more durable than the animal who's appearance we took," Primal explained.

"And compared to us," Rattrap continued, "you're as light as a feather."

_I hadn't thought about that. He did have a point. They're made out of metal while I'm flesh and bone. Compared to their mechanical bodies mine probably is lightweight. Considering Dinobot lifted me like I was a ragdoll the other day._

"Cheetor may have a point. Eri, it might be better if you hitch a ride," the Maximal leader stated. Before the cat could volunteer Primal continued. "It would be best if Rhinox carried her."

"But I can do it no prob big-bot," the cheetah was quick to counter.

"No doubt about that Cheetor but you're also the fastest member of this team. We can't have you carrying her when we need you to scout ahead or do point," Rhinox answered.

"Oh, I get it," the cat said.

Rhinox stopped along with everyone else. "Hop on," he casually told her.

She just looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, you won't slow me down a bit," he reassured.

"Ok," she still stated a little unsure. _Maybe this is like a horse with a jokey. He's so… Sturdy he won't even notice me there._ She took a second to judge the distance before she jumped onto his back. Luckily for her he'd crouched down to help her with the height. Once she felt secure he cocked his head to the side to look back at her.

"You alright up there?" he politely asked.

"All set," she replied. With that they continued on. Eri felt weird hitching a ride but figured it was better than slowing them down more than she already was. Sufficed to say she could definitely tell they'd all picked up the pace.

~*~

About Twenty minutes later.

They came upon familiar ground.

"This is where I first encountered the human," Dinobot stated. Sure enough scorch marks could be seen from the previous day's battle.

"Eri…" Primal prompted.

"Up there," she pointed to the ridge she'd fallen down.

"Wow. You fell from up there," the cheetah exclaimed.

"It's a wonder you weren't injured," Rhinox added. They traveled up the ridge and followed her directions. "I think it was about here…" she stated looking around.

"You think?" Dinobot nearly shouted.

"I can't remember too well. Those, Predacons? They were chasing me," she replied.

"You did just fine Eri," Optimus said. "Maximals, scan the area. If you find anything report but stay vigilant. We don't know what the Predacons might be up to." Each of the Maximals began searching in an outward pattern. "Eri, you stay with Rhinox," the ape cautioned. She nodded in response.

They searched for what must've been half an hour, Eri guessed, and there was still nothing. _Maybe I picked the wrong spot._

As if sensing her anxiety Rhinox spoke up. "Don't worry. It hasn't been that long."

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Hea, I think I got somethin' here," Rattrap suddenly called out. Everyone immediately crowded around to see what it was.

"That's my phone!" Eri yelled hopping off of Rhinox.

"Your what?" Cheetor asked.

"It's my iPhone," she said taking it from the rat. She doubted there would be any type of service but it wouldn't even turn on. _I know it was fully charged when I left school._

Seeing her perplexed expression Primal spoke up first. "I take it's not working?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I mean I wasn't expecting to call anyone with it but… It should at least turn on."

"Maybe the energon on this planet is messing with it," Rhinox theorized.

"He's got a point. The energon's always interferin' with our comm links," Rattrap added.

"I'm surprised it's here," she said putting it in her hoody pocket.

"What makes you say that?" Optimus inquired.

"Well, when I was sucked into the storm at the park I was wearing my backpack. But I lost it between there and here. I assumed it landed somewhere back at the park."

"What's a backpack?" Cheetor asked.

"It is a bag I put my stuff in, like my phone. The fact it's here means either it fell out of my pack during the storm and landed in this world… Or my bag is around here somewhere." She jumped up with renewed vigor and they restarted the search.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of her backpack anywhere. The most they found besides her phone was a hairtie she used to pull her hair back into a ponytail. By now it had been over two hours and the heat of the day was upon them. This, combined with the fact she hadn't eaten or had anything to drink since the previous day, wore Eri down.

All of her hopes of having her bag back were severely dashed. No matter how hard she tried not to think about it her mind kept wandering to the chips shoved somewhere in its depths. Her stomach started to growl in protest. Eri hoped no one heard it. Turned out luck was not in her favor.

"What's that noise?" Cheetor questioned cocking his head to better pinpoint the sound.

"Eh, I hear it too," Rattrap unhelpfully contributed.

_Oh boy._

"I think I know," Rhinox said. Course he would know. He'd been standing right next to her the entire time.

"Sorry," she embarrassingly apologized.

"For what?" the cat asked oblivious as to what she meant.

"No, I'm sorry Eri," Primal spoke up. "I hadn't considered…"

"What is it now?" Dinobot annoyingly inquired.

"When was the last time you've eaten?" Primal ignored the raptor to face Eri.

"Yesterday afternoon," Eri said looking down at her feet to avoid all of their gazes.

"If you were hungry why didn't you say something back at the base?" the cat asked. "We would've gotten you something."

"For bootin' up cold," the rat did the equivalent of a face palm. "She doesn't eat the same stuff we do spots."

"Then what does she eat?" the cheetah was quick to reply.

Eri's stomach did a flip at the thought they might catch her a live animal to cook and eat. "Fruits or nuts would be alright," she quickly stated. "But really I'm fine. The sooner we find that ball the sooner I can go home." _And eat._

"We can't have you becoming malnourished or dehydrated," the leader said.

"So I guess it's just another change of plans," Rattrap said.

~*~

They all spent the next hour finding her something to eat. It consisted of Cheetor finding her some type of berries she was afraid would have serious repercussions on her later. Soon afterwards they located a small stream for her nearby. When she was ready to go back up the ridge something caught her eye.

"No way." Without warning she tore off her shoes and socks before wading into the water.

"Wow there little lady. What so you think you're doing?" Rattrap asked.

She stopped knee deep and looked between two rocks with a keen distinction. Eri grabbed on object from between them and pulled it out. She whipped the water off of it as she walked back to shore.

"I can't believe this made it here, of all the things," she disbelievingly said.

"A yo-yo?" the rat nearly yelled in surprise.

"Yeah. My cousin always shoves her things into my bag for safekeeping." She let the ball part of it roll down the string and come back up once before catching it. "This is her favorite one."

"Oh just what we need. A child's toy," Dinobot voiced his thoughts.

Eri wrapped up the string and shoved it into her pocket along with her phone. "But how did it end up in the river?" she inquired putting her socks and shoes back on.

"Perhaps the storm you described scattered your things beyond where you landed," Primal attempted to answer.

Eri's face noticeably fell. _Who knows where all of my things ended up?_

"How much should we widen our search?" Cheetor asked seeing Eri's expression.

"You won't have to worry about that pussycat. Noooo," a mysterious voice called from up the ridge from all of them.

"Is that Barney?" she burst out in pure shock. At the top of the ridge was the mutant bee, the red flying freak that hated her, and that creepy spider. Also, there was a giant scorpion robot and a purple T-rex. Her blood seemed to turn ice cold. Everyone appeared to ignore her little outburst in favor of starring at each other and lowly growling.

"Megatron," Primal almost snarled stepping in front of Eri. The rest of the Maximals, and ex-Pred, followed suit and formed a protective wall between her and the Predacons.

"The one and only Optimus Primal. Now that we have these little pleasantries out of the way why don't you step aside," Megatron stated more than asked.

"No chance, raisenface," Chettor spoke up.

"My my aren't we exceedingly hostile today?" the Pred leader countered. "And here I thought you Maximals were all about equality."

"What are you rambling about?" Rhinox interrupted.

"I find it astonishing how you seem to think you can keep the human for yourselves. It's only fair if we Predacons receive the chance to become acquaintances with this new arrival."

"Sure, after you nearly blasted her one day and tried to kidnap her the same night," Rattrap remarked.

"Misunderstandings, I assure you. Besides, shouldn't the human decide whom she should alley herself with after she's seen both sides," the T-rex casually drawled.

"She'd never go with you!" Cheetor basically shouted.

"Don't let him taunt you," Optimus put his arm out to keep the cat from lunging at the Preds.

"Very well. It appears the Maximal method of negotiation has failed. Now we'll do this the good-old-fashioned Predacon way!"

"Prepare yourselves Maximals!" Primal warned.

"Predacons, Terrorize!" Megatron commanded.

"Maximals, Maximize!" Optimus countered.

"Megatron, Terrorize."

"Optimus, Maximize." Both leaders transformed and the others quickly followed suit.

"Terrorsaur, Terrorize."

"Dinobot, Maximize."

"Tarantulas, Terrorize," the spider cackled.

"Rhinox, Maximize."

"Scorponok, Terrorize."

"Rattrap, Maximize."

"Waspinator, Terrorize," the wasp called and transformed midair like his wing-mate had.

"Cheetor, Maximize," the cat finished.

Eri got her first good look at both sides facing one another. What sent shivers down her spine was that all of them appeared willing to fight to the bitter end. And what was worse, all of them were armed.

"I want the human alive and unharmed but obliterate the Maximals!" Megatron yelled. With that, everyone literally opened fire on one another.

"Take cover," Primal called realizing the ridge put them at a disadvantage. Lady lucky wasn't entirely against them however. The ridge was exceedingly unstable and multiple boulders had fallen to the bottom over time, giving them ample cover.

Primal gave them cover along with Dinobot and Cheetor as Rhinox and Rattrap moved Eri behind a boulder. Rattrap took the opposite side of her from Rhinox.

If she thought Rattrap's or Dinobot's fights with the two flyers were bad then this was easily fifty times worse. Explosions vibrated the boulder and ground. They were so loud she could have sworn her ears were ringing. Bits of rock flew everywhere and she didn't have to be a genius to guess the rocks they were using as shields wouldn't take this kind of abuse for long.

"Leave me here!" she had to basically scream to be heard.

"What?" Cheetor exclaimed.

"They only want me. Leave me here and go. I don't want you guys to get hurt," she retorted.

"Nice offer but no dice," Rattrap said. "There's no way we'll leave you here for the stickin' Preds."

"Rattrap's right," the cheetah added. "Besides kickin' Pred tail is what I do best." As if to emphasize his point he blasted off a few rounds and managed to blast Waspinator in his arm.

"Enough showboating," Rhinox interrupted. "We have to get Eri out of here." None of them needed to be told even one shot from a Pred could be devastating, if not lethal, for her.

"Cheetor, you take Eri and get back to base," Optimus said. "We'll cover you."

"How?" Rattrap shouted. A shot exploded the rock right next to his head. As a repercussion he fired back at a steady rate. A squawk came from Terrorsaur and all of them could tell he'd nicked him. "If you hadn't noticed we're all kinda pinned down."

"Let me worry about the flyers," Primal countered. "Rhinox and Dinobot will cover you."

"Why would they have to cover me?" the rat asked. The leader gave him a look and that was all he needed to know. "No. No way in the pit am I gonna be the decoy, fearless-leader."

Another volley of missiles came at them and completely destroyed a small boulder to their right. In those few seconds Rattrap caught a glimpse of Eri's face. She was covering her ears with her hands and she looked absolutely terrified.

"Eh, alright," he regrettably sighed.

Seeing as Rattrap was the smallest Maximal he was the one best suited to get closer to the Preds. Optimus taking to the air to take out the flyers while Dinobot and Rhinox hammered the others helped.

The rat managed to get behind a rock a little over half way up the ridge. Primal managed to blast Terrorsaur and Waspinator out of the sky… But got shot by the purple laser of Megatrons.

"Give up Primal. You cannot hope to defeat me," the T-rex gloated.

"Oh yeah?" Rattrap choose that time to take his shot. "Well eat this!" He volleyed two blasts that took Tarantulas out and three at the Predacon leader. It may not have taken him down but he noticeably staggered.

Seeing his flyers down and having the ground being obliterated all around him infuriated Megatron. He let out a defeated growl and hit Terrorsaur, who had landed right next to him, out of frustration. "You imbeciles! Don't think this is over Maximals. Nooo." He transformed into beast mode and started running toward his base. "Retreat!" he yelled at his minions.

The Maximals regrouped and watched their enemies retreating forms.

"Does anyone else think that was too easy?" Rhinox questioned.

"I'm not gonna question a lucky break. For once," Rattrap countered. He noticed Primal's disconcerted look. "What's up fearless-leader? We won."

"Megatron gave up the battle way too easily," they could all tell something else was bothering him. Dinobot was the one to figure it out first.

"I did not see Scorponok at the end of the battle," the raptor stated. Instantly, all of their minds went to one thing. Cheetor!

~*~

"Do you think it was a good idea leaving them like that?" Eri asked Cheetor. Currently, he was running back to the base while she held on.

"They'll be fine. Optimus will…" The cat stopped midsentence and scanned the area.

"What's wrong?" Eri almost whispered also looking around.

"I don't think we're alone anymore." Quickly, she jumped off his back. "Cheetor, Maximize," he quietly whispered. He held his gun at attention while he scanned the area.

Both heard a rustle in nearby bushes. He made a motion for her to stay behind him. The rustling sound became louder and grated on both of their nerves. Then…

A bird popped out from behind the bush and flew away at a high rate of speed.

"Just a bird," Cheetor said.

"But something must've scared it," she nervously stated. The horrible feeling of being watched was still there. Course, she would know from previous experience.

"You've got that right," a voice announced to their left. Scorponok came out from behind a tree. Before the cat could react the scorpion got a missile off and hit him dead center.

"Cheetor!" Eri screamed. He fell over and had a large hole in his chest area. The Predacon took the chance to fire again while the cat was down. This time it hit the cat's weapon and knocked it into the nearby shrubs. Exposed wiring could be seen in the cheetah's hand.

Eri went to shield him with herself. She hadn't gotten the chance to with the surprise attack but there was no way she would let him be hit again. One of her hands grabbed his uninjured one and she peered into his optics.

"I'm so sorry," she exclaimed. "Please, just stay with me."

"Eri," he barely got out.

Scorponok took his time walking over to them.

"Run," the cat wheezed.

"No! I won't leave you." She would not cry at a time like this. He was the one who was hurt not her. Eri felt something grab her shirt and lift her off the Maximal. Her grip on his hand didn't budge.

"Let go!" Scorponok said a little irritated at being delayed.

"No! You let go! Cheetor!" she screamed.

The cat's grip on her hand slowly loosened as his sight began to blur. He couldn't hear anything but saw Eri thrashing in the scorpion's grip and her attempt to keep ahold of him. His vision went black for a second but when it returned the Pred was now using both of his pincers to pull her off him.

He completely lost the feeling of her hand on his. His sight blackened for another second before it fuzzily returned. Although, his audio receptors failed him he could make out what she was screaming by looking at her face. "Cheetor!" The darkness engulfed him once again and this time it remained.


	6. The Games We Play

The Maximals and ex-Predacon ran at full speed for their base. Optimus was the only one to remain in robot mode as he flew overhead. Rattrap sat atop Rhinox as he stomped toward the jungled area standing between them and their destination.

"Do you think the kid outran Scorponok and got Stargirl back to base?" Rattrap asked.

"Hard to say," Rhinox replied. "We don't know when he left the battle."

"Megatron may have anticipated such a move," Dinobot stated keeping up with them. "He knew we would try to get the girl out of harms way."

"No use worrying about it now," Rhinox stated breaking through the underbrush. "We gotta run."

"Look!" Rattrap exclaimed pointing to the sky. "I think the big ape found somethin'."

They looked up to see Optimus landing about thirty feet ahead of them. Quickly, they reached where their leader had landed.

"No…" Rhinox said once they saw the reason for his landing. "Cheetor." They all saw the poor and unconscious state the cheetah was in.

"Come on," Primal commanded grabbing Cheetor to carry him. "We have to get him back to the CR chamber." As he flew off with their fallen comrade they all continued their quick pace back to the base.

"This doesn't baud well," Rhinox said as he ran.

"I told you we should have left the girl at the base," Dinobot unhelpfully added.

"Shove it up your tailpipe chopperface," Rattrap countered. "First we gotta fix spots."

"Then we have to make a plan to go after Eri," Rhinox stated. The base was now in sight and Optimus carrying Cheetor was going up the elevator.

"Man…" the rat put a hand on his head in exasperation. "The kid is all tore up and the little lady is being held captive at the Pred base. This is officially the pits."

~*~

Near the Predacon Base.

Eri awoke to the feeling of it being uncomfortably hot. When she opened her eyes she noticed she was moving. Another unusual feature was that the ground looked black and rocky. Slowly, she got up on her elbows. It was then she noticed she was riding the scorpion form earlier!

He must've noticed her moving and looked up at her on his back. "So you're awake," he casually stated, "Now don't think…"

The scorpion was unable to finish his sentence as she sat as erectly as she could on his back and screamed rather loudly. It was enough to stun his audio sensors. He tried in vain to cover his 'ears' with his pinchers. "Oh, shut up!" he attempted to yell at her over her incessant shrieking. He also ran around in a feeble attempt to buck her off his back.

In a blind fury she kept screaming excessively close to his head. With one hand she grabbed onto his tail to keep from falling off and with the other… She poked at his optics.

"Ow! Stop it you little…" He reached up and grabbed her shirt with a pincher to throw her off of him. After a few seconds he managed to succeed, but not before she blinded him. "Ah!" he cried out in agony. For that he tossed her a good seven feet. She skidded to a stop on harsh, sharp, black rock. Her pants took most of the abuse for her legs, except where they didn't cover. What received most of the punishment was her arms as she shielded her face.

Even through the stinging pain she quickly managed to get to her feet. "That's for Cheetor you bastard!" she cried out. For added measure she picked up a nearby rock and threw it. It smacked right off his head with a metallic 'clank'.

"How dare you!" Scorponok called out into the air. "I'm second-in-command. Scorponok, Terrorize!" Normally, she would have been terrified to be all alone with someone like him but she was too angry to be afraid. Plus, he was clearly blind from her earlier attack because he was confused as to 'where' she was.

All she had to do was sneak away from him and this hellish looking place. Eri found a decent sized stone and threw it past him about ten feet. It made a sound as it exploded and got his attention. She took the opportunity to step backwards as quietly as possible. When she was far enough away she turned her back on him and bolted for all she was worth. She didn't even bother looking back but charged forward. The landscape looked like something out of a nightmare and even though she had no idea where she was going she knew she had to keep running.

Even though it was sweltering she felt a jolt of cold fear run down her spine as a familiar buzzing filled the air. Oh crap! Her lungs struggled to suck in air in the oppressive heat as she forced herself to run even faster. The sound got louder but she didn't chance glancing back. Desperately, Eri looked around but there was nothing to hide behind in the blackened wasteland.

She got the tunnel vision a person gets during high stress situations. The buzzing sound disappeared along with the crunching sound her feet made on the hardened earth. The only thing she saw was the blackness before her. The only sound that reached her was the pounding of her own heartbeat as it steadily increased. Still… It was not enough.

A blast went off ten feet in front of her. She had to skid in order to stop in time to avoid it.

"Well, lookie what we have here."

No. Her luck could not be that bad. Sure enough, three seconds later both the wasp and the red flyer landed right in front of her. Why me? Hopelessness began to creep into her being. "B-back off!" she tried to sound threatening but her adrenaline level was slowly depleting and being replaced with the horrible reality of the situation.

"Oh, I'm so scared," Terrorsaur taunted. "What about you?" he asked looking at his wing-mate.

"Yes," the wasp added. "Female fleshy-bot terrifies Waspinator." That set the both of them off laughing at her.

In desperation she picked up a rock and chucked it. It splintered right off the wasp's head and she attempted to turn around and bolt. Unfortunately, the pterosaur beat her to it, sprung up, and landed right where she'd planned to run. He latched onto her shoulder hard. Instinctively, she let out a 'yelp' and went to kick him.

She came up short and merely got him in his thigh area. Other than an audible 'thud' and a shooting pain through her leg there was no reaction. _Why are these guys built like tanks?_ His grip on her tightened and he actually lifted her off the ground to meet his helm.

Before he could do anything else but stare at her there was a groan from the wasp. They both turned to see him rubbing his head. "Megatron said not to hurt female fleshy-bot," Waspinator stated. "Oh, Waspinator has a processor-ach," he mumbled.

Terrorsaur let out an irritated sigh and put her back on the ground. His hold didn't loosen a tiny fraction. "Looks like Scorponok beat us to it," he jostled Eri back and forth. She was starting to feel the pain from all her cuts, scraps, and bruises. There was no way she couldn't help but flinch a little and his harsh grasp on her wasn't helping matters.

"Where is he anyway?" Waspinator asked.

"Yeah. Wasn't he supposed to be the one guarding her?" the red flyer asked glancing around. He looked down at Eri and she glared back at him. Terrorsaur smirked and let out a small chuckle. "Wait 'till Megatron finds out his 'second-in-command' was beatin' by a pathetic human." He leaned menacingly closer to her. "But just because you managed to escape from him doesn't mean you'll do the same with me."

However, Waspinator overheard this and had to add in his own piece. "But she already got away from us twice."

Terrorsaur looked over at his wing-mate and was overtly agitated. It quickly subsided as he looked back to her. "That's only because she got lucky, doesn't mean it'll happen again. There's no traitor or Maximal around to save her."

Eri remained silent and just looked at him. She'd dealt with people like him for most of her life. He enjoyed tormenting others and the more they squirmed the better. Luckily, knowing this enabled her to deal with him and understand where he was coming from. She just needed to keep her mouth shut.

There was a commotion about fifty feet from where they were. It sounded like inaudible yelling to her. Eri had a feeling it was the scorpion she'd blinded. Great. Now she was faced with three bots, one of which hated her and another she'd blinded so he probably wouldn't be too happy with her.

"There's Scorponok now," Terrorsaur said. "Why don't you go get him and I'll take her back to base." The thought of her being all alone with him made her stomach flip.

The wasp seemed to be against the idea, knowing his wing-mate, and shifted back and forth nervously. "But Megatron…"

"I know. Don't worry, I won't hurt the fleshie. The last thing I need is him on my case."

"Well…" Waspinator still hesitated.

"Just go," Terrorsaur squawked in anger. The wasp looked at him more carefully one more time before flying off to go help their comrade.

"Alright," he sighed.

Once they were alone Terrorsaur pulled out his weapon but he didn't really aim it at her. She did her best not to show any fear. "Don't worry. I'm not going to shoot you." He flipped it around in his hand like she'd seen the villains do in old time westerns. It would have been cool if he didn't seem to have it out for her. "But I'll give you a little warning." He leaned down and pointed the muzzle right at her face. "I'm not sure what plan Megatron has for you, but as soon as he's done you're fair game. No one makes me look like a fool and gets away with it." He turned her around and started pushing her forward. "Give me any trouble and I'll hand you over to Tarantulas. Trust me, compared to what he'd do with you I'd be considered merciful." As if to emphasize his point he put the end of his gun to the back of her head for a few seconds before removing it.

From his name Eri figured Tarantulas was that giant purple spider. She didn't even want to think of being near him. From what she'd seen and heard the Predacons seemed terrible. And now she was going to meet their leader? If these guys were so horrible then what was he like? She's learned from experience you do not get to be the 'top dog' of assholes without being the worst one. Eri couldn't help but think of the Maximals. They'd put their lives in danger for her. And Cheetor…

He'd been so badly damaged. Could the others help him? Would they even be able to find him? And what if they were injured too?

Eri felt her body going through the motions of walking as her emotions blazed through her mind in a second. Slowly, she felt herself shutting down in a feeble attempt to coup with everything going on. One thought consoled her in this living terror. Now that the Preds had her at least they'd leave the Maximals be.

~*~

The Maximal Base.

"How's Cheetor's repairs going?" Primal inquired. All of the uninjured Maximals and ex-Pred stood around the control panel.

"Slower than we thought. Scorponok landed those missiles in just the right places," the rhino replied with an exasperated sigh.

"This is terrific," Rattrap stated. "Who knows what the Preds are doin' to Eri."

"We can't do anything until Cheetor's fixed," Rhinox countered. "A direct assault with our numbers would be suicide."

"Yeah, but we can't just sit here on our cans while Stargirl's being tortured," Rattrap stated rather loudly.

"I don't think Eri's in immediate danger," the Maximal leader said to almost everyone's surprise.

"Did that shot cross your wires?" the rat exclaimed. "Those flyers nearly killed her."

"I don't believe they were acting on Megatron's orders," the ape argued. "During the fight he wanted her 'alive and unharmed'. He wouldn't merely kill her after such specified instructions regarding her well being."

"Tell that to Terrorsaur. He has it out for the little lady, not to mention Tarantulas. I swear if he puts so much as one servo on her…" the rat warned.

"If Megatron went to the trouble of capturing her alive and in fair condition I doubt he would let the others kill her," Dinobot spoke up. "Terrorsaur will not attempt anything under Megatron's watch. Tarantulas is another matter entirely. Although, even he is not foolish enough to attempt anything so soon after her capture."

"This will, at least, give us enough time to come up with a plan while Cheetor's recovering," Optimus pondered. He had to figure out a way of rescuing Eri discreetly. If they plunged in recklessly Megatron might try to use her as a hostage.

"I still don't understand why he wanted her to begin with," Rattrap interrupted. "She may be human but she's also from the past. How does that help him?"

"The technology Eri was talking about," Rhinox added. "If he could get his hands on it who knows what he might try."

"How do we know it's even here?" the rat inquired. "We couldn't even find her backpack, let alone this ball."

"But what if it is out there vermin?" Dinobot countered. "The girl may be a distraction from his true goal."

"What are you saying, lizardlips? That we should just leave her at their mercy?"

"She is nothing but a hindrance. We are probably better off without her."

Rattrap walked around the control panel until he was starring directly at the raptor. "You wanna repeat that, dinobutt?"

"That's enough you two," Rhinox said muscling his way in between them. "Your bickering is not helping the situation. We won't be able to help Eri until Cheetor's back to normal and we are not leaving her with the Predacons." Neither could say much to that.

"Eh, alright. I just hope she can hold out 'till then," Rattrap sighed. Stay strong Stargirl.

~*~

The Predacon Base.

Eri was at least thankful the base had some sort of climate control. She's been dying out in that sweltering heat. But other than the air conditioner the place had an ominous feel to it. If she thought the Maximal base was gloomy than this was downright sinister in appearance. It wasn't as well lit as the other had been and held twice as many shadows. Plus, there wasn't even a floor at one section. It was magma! No wonder it was so dang hot and the ground entirely made up of black rock. Cheetor had told her the Maximals and Predacons had crash landed on the planet. _Guess these guys got the short end of the deal and landed on a sticking lava pit._

The red flyer forced her onto some sort of floating platform. It wobbled a bit back and forth when they stepped on. He grabbed some sort of lever and they jolted forward. She tensed up because there was nothing to grab ahold of. There was no way in hell she'd hold onto him. Luckily, he wasn't going very fast and they only went about forty feet before they stopped. Eri fought to keep her balance and she happened to see him smirking at her trouble. _What an ass._ Somehow she barely managed to regain her balance and not go tumbling off.

"It seems we finally meet. Yesss," a deep voice said. It sounded as though it came from the large chair in front of them. Whoever was in it had his back to them. Still, she recognized the baritone from earlier and she suspected she already knew who it was.

Sure enough, when he spun the chair around it was him. The purple bot who'd transformed from that T-rex. She'd had suspicions it was him on the battlefield. How he'd bantered with Optimus and everyone kept talking about him. Once he'd announced who he was she was certain it was him, especially since the scorpion told her he was the 'second-in-command' after grabbing her. He was certainly the biggest Predacon. But Dinobot and Rhinox were bigger than Optimus and neither of them were leading the Maximals. _Must be survival of the fittest around here._

The first thing Eri noticed was his freakishly while teeth. The second was his T-rex arm. It felt as if its pink eyes were staring at her. She could've sworn she saw it's gaze flicker.

Megatron immediately lost his trademark smirk upon seeing the human. Or moreover, the state she was in. Her hair was in a ponytail but still looked disheveled with most of it falling around her face. Her clothes appeared messy and a layer or dirt covered them. However, what really upset him was the fact she had bruises, scrapes, and cuts on almost every patch of skin he could see, including her face.

Eri heard him let out a low irritated growl and gulped. But he wasn't mad at her. Megatron looked over at Terrorsaur and glared at him. She heard the flyer behind her let out a tiny nervous squawk but she couldn't see he'd also lowered his weapon pointed at her back.

"What happened?" The Predacon leader demanded. "I believe I specified the human was to be unharmed," he specifically growled out the last part and got out of his chair. He managed to step on a solid platform next to them and got right in the flyer's terrified face. "Does this," he stated indicating where Eri was hurt, "look unharmed."

For a second it was as if Terrorsaur was too afraid to form a coherent answer. Finally, he managed to stammer out an excuse. "B-but Lord Megatron… I-I swear I didn't hurt her."

"Where is Scorponok? I sent him to retrieve her in the first place."

"S..She got away from him. He was the one who harmed her. I managed to reclaim her before she could escape." Eri noticed he had a tendency to talk fast when he was nervous. In fact, he spoke so quickly a few of his words almost slurred or completely blurred together. At the beginning of his sentences he seemed to stutter like she did.

The Pred leader let out a long irritated sigh. "Very well. But where is he now?"

"Your second-in-command is being led to the CR bathes by Waspinator. It appears the cat was able to injure him before he snagged her," the red bot nodded toward Eri.

She just stood there a bit dumbfounded. _Why did he lie?_ Eri doubted it was for her benefit. _Maybe he'll use it against the scorpion later? Well, I guess they do almost everything else people do, why not bribe one another while they're at it?_

"That fool. Did you spot any of the Maximals in the area?"

"No, they're probably all back at the base," the flyer answered.

"Good. I wouldn't want our first official meeting to be interrupted." Megatron glanced right at Eri when he said this and his creepy smirk returned. She fought the urge to shift uncomfortably under his gaze and just played with the bottom of her shirt. Eri saw Terrorsaur role his eyes and let out what could be considered a snort. Megatron must've heard him because he lost the smile for a second to snap at him. "I'll escort the human from here. Why don't you make yourself useful and see what the spider is up to?" He took his one arm, not the T-rex head, and moved her off the floating platform to where he was standing. She was a little startled but stiffly did so. At least he wasn't aiming a gun at her.

Once she was on solid ground he slammed the head arm onto Terrorsaur's hand. He let out a squawk as the platform flew off at a dangerously high rate of speed. She wouldn't be surprised if he went out of control. However, she wasn't worried about him at the moment. Eri was the one secluded with the giant, compared to her anyway, and deceiving leader of the Predacons. Considering he seemed peeved over the fact she was hurt she doubted he was going to kill her. But what did he want with her?

The way he was intently looking at her made her gut do a flip. She'd been petrified when Dinobot had given her what she considered his 'death glare'. But the way he peered at her behind the too zealous smile made her instincts start screaming. Boy did she have to seriously fight the urge to vomit.

"Hello there," he started. "I do apologize for my followers earlier behavior but good help is so hard to find." She didn't say anything and this caught him a bit off-guard but he quickly recovered. "Oh, how rude of me. I believe proper introductions are in order. I am Megatron, leader of the Predacons. You are, my dear?"

Besides his friendly demeanor she still didn't trust him. Call it an 'impulse'. Still, she didn't want to tick him off by not answering. The way he'd handled Terrorsaur earlier told her he might snap at anything. But everything Cheetor had told her about them made her reluctant to give him her real name. On a whim she blurted out the first name she could think of. "Kimiko Yukimura," she practically whispered.

"Well, Kimiko, it is a pleasure to meet you. Yesss."

She had no clue as to why he pronounced the last word the way he did or why he seemed to use it so often. But she wasn't going to ask. What she did manage to work up the courage to ask was something that weighed heavily on her mind. "W-why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to see you for myself. You appear different than the humans of this time should be." She just gave him a blank look that stated she had no idea why he'd said that. "But that's nothing you need to worry about. Nooo." He paced around her, and if possible, it made her even more nervous. "Now how did you arrive here?"

"I-I was just w-walking through the park and a s…storm came out of n-nowhere. Next t…thing I k-know I'm here." Eri left out the part about the sphere for the same reason she didn't tell him her real name. Something told her the less he knew about her situation the better.

"Is there anything else you might remember"? he prompted.

Eri didn't trust her voice so she nodded her head. He didn't seem too pleased about this and she saw his face holding the beginning of a scowl. But just as quickly it vanished. "No matter. You're here now… By the way, do you happen to know what planet you're on?" he inquired.

She gulped before answering. "N-no."

He seemed to look off into space for a second contemplating something. It startled her when he abruptly started speaking again and looked right at her. But she somehow stopped herself form stepping backwards.

"Just as well. I do hate to pry but what all have the Maximals told you about me?"

"Uh…" She was caught off by the question. Well, playing stupid seemed to be working so far.

"Come on, I'm sure they've said a lot about us Predacons."

"T…they told me y-you all fought in outer space. T-that's why you a…all crashed here. But they didn't t-tell me much m-more. They said it w-was too complicated f…for me to understand." She'd hoped he'd leave it at that. Unfortunately, he didn't.

"Now, surely they warned you about me," he continued. She could've sworn there was a hint of agitation to his voice.

"T-they said you Pre-Predacons were their enemies. T…that you were m-mean and tr-trick people," she merely paraphrased a little of what Cheetor had told her. It seemed to be good enough for him.

"Oh, those Maximals are up to their old tricks again. You see Kimiko…" He went into a small tale of how the Maximals were the ones out to destroy the universe. That it was actually the Predacons who were the good guys here. "I'll admit my subordinates were confused upon your arrival. We've been battling the Maximals for so long they believed you to be another falsehood created by our foes. That is why I wanted to see you for myself." He put his hand on her shoulder like he was telling her something important. "I'm merely glad I was able to save you from them before they could harm you. Or worse, corrupt your very mind."

In reality, most people might actually believe the sincerity in his voice. Or be semi-comforted by his friendly actions and behavior. Not Eri… She may be considered many things but not stupid. She'd seen this falsehood on almost a daily basis back home. Which is why she didn't believe him or his story for a second.

However, in the spirit of acting naïve she tried to appear relieved. Megatron seemed to buy it.

"Since that's all been settled, how about a tour?" He took his arm off her and she felt lighter. It's not like he'd been putting all of his weight on her but it had been nice to have the weight literally lifted off her shoulder. She obediently followed him, all the while trying to create a map in her head.

~*~

Elsewhere at the Base.

Scorponok slowly rose out of the bath. It hadn't taken that long to fix his optics. The girl hadn't done as much damage as he'd originally thought. Still, she'd dented his helm with a rock and he felt the final ending of his processor-ach. If Megatron hadn't ordered them to not harm her he would've shown her the meaning of disrespecting his authority.

"Well look who decided to join us," a voice said to his left. He looked to see Terrorsaur leaning against the wall.

"What do you want?" the scorpion countered. "And what happened to the human?"

"Don't worry. Right now Megatron's leading her around the base." He dramatically paused and glanced down at his hands. Like when a human looks at their fingernails. "I just came to inform you, you now owe me."

"What are you talking about?" he asked walking over to the flyer.

"I told Megatron the cat scratched you, not the meatbag. After all… How impressed would he be if his lieutenant was defeated by a defenseless human?"

Scorponok got a worried expression on his face.

"I won't tell him what really happened. But remember…" He transformed into beast mode and flapped in midair. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine." With that he flew off down one of the numerous hallways.

~*~

At the Maximal Base.

The CR chamber opened and Cheetor slowly walked out holding his helm with one hand and groaning. "Ow…"

"Cheetor," Primal stated, "how are you feeling?"

"Better than I was big-bot." Suddenly he let out a small surprised gasp and frantically scanned the entire room. The figure he was searching for was not there. "Eri! Where is she?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Rhinox said in a calm demeanor. "We found you injured and there was no sign of her."

"It was Scorponok. He cut us off and blasted me. The slagger must've taken her."

"No doubt the battle itself was a mere diversion," Dinobot had to add in a piece. "His true goal was to capture the human. Most likely, for information concerning what brought her here."

"And he knew I wouldn't want her in harm's way. Of course I'd get her out of there at the first opportunity," Primal irritatedly admitted. He had played right into Megatron's hands.

"We have to go get her," the cat energetically said heading toward the weapon room.

"Hold it spots," Rattrap stopped him from running out the door. "If we go in there blastin' doors the Preds are gonna use her against us. Probably as a human shield like Terrorsaur did."

"But they could be torturing her for all we know. Or what if that creepy spider got his servos on her?" Cheetor nearly yelled.

"That is enough," Optimus declared. "We'll have to do this carefully but I've thought of a way to save her…"

~*~

Miles Away Under Ground.

A normal rat fought to try and get out of a blue glittering spider web. No matter how much it thrashed the web held firm. The thread shook a little as a heavier body stepped onto it. Although the rat renewed the fight for its life with the imminent threat of a dark body hanging above it. But it was to no avail.

Two seconds later the rat was devoured whole. It didn't even get to let out a 'squeak'.

The figures eyes glowed in the darkness of the surrounding cave. He kept envisioning a certain human caught in the same web and how much fun he was going to have when he finally got to test a couple of his theories. It was only a matter of waiting now. Not that it concerned him too much. He was an extremely patient bot.

The spider let out a maniacal laugh to fill the silence of the cavern.

~*~

At the Pred Base.

Megatron had shown her around the entire place. She'd lost track of how many twisting hallways there were. Eri was right in thinking, even though it was situated in a lava pit, that it was twice as dark as the Maximal base. The only similarity was the fact each member had their own room. The spider's room was locked so she didn't get to see it, not like she really wanted to. Scorponok had been in his room and didn't appear happy to see her in the slightest. Megatron growled at him and told him to, 'Go do something useful.' Waspinator hadn't been in his room but it didn't stop the Predacon leader from going right on in.

Eri thought this was a bit rude. While Cheetor had shown her everyone's rooms they hadn't actually went into any besides his. She, and him, felt like it was an invasion of privacy. Apparently, this fact was lost upon Megatron. No wonder the spider had locked his door.

There wasn't really anything in any of their rooms besides their beds. Although she did see a teddy bear sticking out from under the wasp's birth. She felt a small smile spread across her face when she realized what it was. Quickly, she returned her face to being 'neutral' and slid the bear completely out of sight with her foot while Megatron wasn't looking. Something told her he wouldn't appreciate the stuffed animal the same way she, and probably Waspinator seeing as it was his, did.

Next was Terrorsaur's room. Unfortunately he was actually there. However, she was surprised by how lit it was in there. All of the others had been excessively gloomy, but his was the brightest out of both bases. It was then she noticed he had extra lights strung all over the place. Luckily, they didn't linger long and moved on to Megatron's. It was twice as big as the others but that wasn't saying much considering it was mostly empty. What caught her eye was a small yellow object on a shelf.

_Is that a rubber duck?_ Her eyes nearly doubled in size.

He had stopped prattling on about why he was given the greatest room when he noticed she was intently staring at something. Upon seeing what it was he blocked her line of vision with his large frame.

"And that concludes the tour," he finished in a hurry. He basically pushed her out the door into the hallway. She was a tad surprised but went along with it.

He seemed to clear his throat and lead her a small ways down the halls. They stopped in front of a door in between Waspinator and Terrorsaur's rooms. "While you're a guest here it would be only fitting if you have your own room."

The door opened and unremarkably it looked exactly like all the other desolate rooms. He gently, for him at least, pushed her in it. "I do hope it is to your liking. Yeessss." It must've been rhetorical because she didn't even get a chance to answer before he continued. "For your own protection I'm going to have to lock you in." Before she could react the door closed and there was a mechanical 'thud' she assumed was the lock.

Even though the door was made out of some sort of heavy metal she could still hear his voice from the other side. "Just stay there…" She wasn't quite sure but Eri also thought she heard him mutter, ' and quiet.' "Someone will be around shortly to give you essentials. I believe you will find your stay here quite enjoyable. Yyyyeeesss."

Two seconds later she heard his form stomp down the hallway. She breathed out a sigh of relief at finally being left alone. Eri sat down on the birth and put her back against the wall. The only bad thing was she simply had her thoughts to entertain her. She kept comparing the Predacons to the Maximals. Where the Preds were phony and nasty the Maximals were honest and nice. As much as she didn't want to admit it she missed the boys. At their place she felt welcome, for the most part, and protected. Here, she felt alone and like it was only a matter of time before something horrible happened.

Slowly, she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them to her as tightly as possible.


	7. Go, go, go!

After sometime Eri got bored of mopping and decided to be productive. No sense just sitting on her butt when she could be doing something. Preferably, something that could get her out of there. But after examining every inch of the room that didn't seem to be an option. She found an air vent under the bed but couldn't get the grate off. The nails were screwed in so tightly she stood no chance of removing them. Eri even broke one of her nails in the attempt.

The door wasn't an option. There wasn't anything to grab and the panel to control it was also locked. Unfortunately, she faced the same problem as the vent… There literally wasn't anything in the room she could use to pry it open, only the birth.

After a while she had to admit defeat. Instead, of succumbing to boredom she pulled out the yo-yo. It kept her distracted from missing and worrying about the Maximals. However, she was a bit curious as to what Megatorn deemed 'essential' for a human. Those berries she had earlier wouldn't give her enough energy for later.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Eri rolled up the yo-yo and put it away. From what Megatron told her earlier someone else was going to take care of her. She honestly had no clue who it would be. With any luck he'd be so disgusted with Scorponok he wouldn't pick him for the job. The way he'd glared at her earlier lead her to believe he hated her guts for what she'd done to him. Terrorsaur would probably be just as bad. She had the feeling she'd be sick if it turned out to be the spider. So far the wasp seemed to be her best option.

The footsteps stopped right outside the door. There was the sound of someone typing on the control panel. A mechanical 'click' similar to the one she'd heard earlier seemed to echo throughout the small room. Too slowly/quickly for her liking the door slid open.

~*~

Miles away from the Predacon base with their human hostage… And equally distant from the Maximals strategizing was a mechanism neither side had knowledge of. If had begun a powering up sequence. Its purpose unknown to anyone but its original creators. What no one could foresee were its affects.

However… A crucial piece was missing.

~*~

A red figure stood in the doorway smirking at her. "Did ya miss me?" She didn't reply and put a neutral look on her face. His smirk disappeared at not getting some sort of reaction out of her. Eri had plenty of practice with bullies in the past. Usually they'd eventually get bored and leave you alone if you didn't respond to their torments. She'd just have to be patient.

Slowly his smirk returned and he leaned on the doorframe. "What's the matter? Aren't you enjoying your little stay here? And Megatron even gave you your own room."

Eri kept the passive look on her face and her hands in her pockets. She nervously fiddled with the yo-yo in an attempt to keep herself calm. Better that then playing with the end of her shirt again, where he could openly see her agitation. He continued speaking, "It's not as good as mine but you won't be here for very long anyway. Right?" She once again gave him no reply. His smirk was replaced with an irritated scowl. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue? Or are you too dense to understand?"

"Are you finished?" she finally asked. The steadiness of her own words shocked her.

"What did you just say?" he indignantly inquired.

"What Terror-bot doing here?" a voice asked behind him. Both turned to see Waspinator standing in the hallway.

"What do you want?" the red flyer asked his wing-mate.

"Megatron ordered Waspinator to look after female fleshy-bot," the wasp answered. Eri let out an internal sigh of relief that Terrorsaur wouldn't be taking care of her after all.

"Tch. Is that so?"

"Yes, and Megatron was looking for Terror-bot," Waspinator stated.

Just then they heard a voice boom throughout the ship. "Terrorsaur!" The red flyer's face almost seemed to pale and he walked out of the room. "Better you than me. I have more important things to do than take care of a meat-bag." With that he transformed and flew off.

An awkward silence came over the two of them as they stood there starring at each other. He seemed to be as nervous as she was. Surprisingly, it was Eri who broke the silence. "Hi."

"Hello," he replied.

"So… You're name's Waspinator?" she politely asked.

He nodded his head. "I am Waspinator, here to take care of female fleshy-bot."

"You don't have to keep calling me that it you don't want to. You can just call me Kimiko," Eri replied keeping her false name. She found it a little shocking she could talk to him as easily as she did Cheetor.

"Kimiko?" he repeated.

"Yeep," she gave him a tiny smile. Simply by observing him he reminded her of a child. He even appeared to be more naïve than the cat. Eri planned to use this to her advantage. He appeared a bit off put by the fact she was smiling at him and being friendly. Before she'd usually run screaming from him… Or chucked a rock at his helm. Then he remembered why he was there to begin with.

"Does femme fleshy need anything?" he asked.

_Guess he's not going to even use my fake name._ "Waspinator," she began, "how much do you know about humans?"

For a second he fiddled with his fingers and seemed to mull it over. "Nothing?" he answered appearing to question himself.

"Oh. Well that's ok. Guess you've never run into a human before. Huh?"

"You are the first Waspinator has ever meet," he said. "But Megatron didn't say how to care for female fleshy-bot." He finished up a little jittery.

She gave him a friendly and sympathetic half-smile. "Don't worry, I'll tell you what I need."

"Really?" he questioned appearing to be somewhat relieved.

"Sure I will," Eri cheerfully stated. "Now… There are a couple things I absolutely require. Do you think you can get them for me?"

"Yes," he eagerly replied. "What are they?"

"Well…,"she pretended to be contemplating. "First, I'll need some clean water to drink, and something to eat. Berries or any type of fruit would be fine." She figured she had to be specific or who knows what he would have brought her. Eri swayed back and forth nervously. "But I'm asking too much, aren't I?"

"No! Waspinator will go get water and food!" he enthusiastically shouted. Excitedly he exited the room, closed, and presumably locked the door. She heard him bolting down the hallway.

_That was unexpected._ Eri hadn't thought he'd get so hyper about the entire matter. A small knowing grin spread across her face. All she had to do was bid her time.

~*~

What she guessed was two hours later Waspinator came back. Although, she couldn't tell because her phone was dead and her internal clock had never been the best. In one servo was a steel cup full of clean looking water. In the other, cradled to his chest-plate, was some type of fruit. She wasn't sure but they reminded her of apples. Thinking it all over she was fairly lucky.

Not for being in the situation to begin with: captured by an enemy race, separated from the bots she fretted for, or for being locked in a metal room. Nonetheless, if this wasn't Earth… Then it must be one of those 'Goldilock' planets scientists on T.V. always talked about. There was air, water, and food that semi resembled her homeworlds. Could she be on Mars? Maybe she was so far in the past it was when Mars was actually habited. Some experts believed Earth and Mars may not have been so different or perhaps they were colonized by the same bacteria from a comet or asteroid. _Wait, how many moons does Mars have?_ Eri couldn't think of the answer off the top of her head. Besides, if it really was Mars wouldn't the gravity be harder on her?

She was brought back to reality when he stepped into the room. Quickly, she plastered on a friendly smile. "Hello Waspinator!" she joyfully greeted. "Is all that just for me?" Eri 'innocently' inquired.

"Yes," he replied setting everything on the birth. Eri walked over and consumed the food in record time. The fruit tasted like bitter apples but she wasn't complaining. She downed the water without pausing for a breath. Normally she would've been mortified acting like that in front of someone. Especially a stranger but her instincts took over. While she didn't have a watch she estimated it was past nine at night. Those berries and water she had earlier had long ago worn off. Add in the insane day and the emotional turmoil she'd experienced… Who could necessarily blame her for bad table manners?

Waspinator wasn't complaining. Although he seemed a bit in awe about how quickly she'd downed everything. As if catching herself she whipped her mouth with the back of her hand. Hurriedly, she looked down at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Thank you Waspinator," she graciously said.

It took him almost an entire ten seconds to realize she'd actually thanked him. He couldn't remember the last time someone had done that. If ever… "Fleshy femme welcome!" he countered.

His overtly chipper tone threw her off a second. "Um." She started but bashfully trailed off. Eri messed with the empty cup as if nervous. He picked up on her sudden attitude change.

"Do you need something else?"

"You see." She paused dramatically and gazed everywhere but at him. "No, I couldn't possibly ask you for anything else. Especially since you've already went to all of this trouble." All those times she saw soap operas on the lower channels was finally paying off. By no means was she an actress but 'embarrassed' and 'nervous' she could do. Good thing she'd been correct in her assumptions about him being naive. Because he bought her little 'performance'.

"It would be no problem," he energetically prompted. He actually looked like he was about to jump up and down from his current energy level.

"I… I have to use the restroom."

His face went completely blank, like she'd planned it would. "Restroom?" he slowly repeated. "Female fleshy-bot need to recharge?" She figured he was guessing.

"Oh no!" she sounded flustered. "What I mean is… Uh." Even though she had gone through this with Rattrap and it was part of her plan… Eri genuinely was embarrassed talking about bowl movements and what caused them with a strange alien robot. "You know the food and water I just had?" He nodded his helm and she continued. "Humans convert what we eat and drink into energy…"

"Waspinator does that too!"

She gently smiled at him before continuing. "Yes, but sometimes we can't get energy from everything we consume. What we cannot process comes out of us at some point. As waste products."

"Really?"

She briefly nodded her head and kept going before she lost her nerve. "Uh huh. When this happens we go to this place called the 'restroom' or 'bathroom'. This is where we can expel our wastes."

Eri gave him a few seconds to contemplate what she told him. He appeared to process it before replying. "Predacons have no restroom for fleshy femme!" There was a hint of worry in his voice.

"Oh…" she added a bit of fret to her own tone along with disappointment. "I suppose that's fine," she sighed. Then she mumbled something she knew he would never be able to hear.

"Waspinator did not hear you," he stated. He even used one of his servos to cup the left side of his helm. Probably, around where his 'ears' were.

"Really, I'm good," she falsely reassured. "It's just I'll…" she gargled the rest.

"What?" he inquired. "What will female fleshy-bot do?"

"I'll-just-explode-if-I-don't-use-the-bathroom-in-a-couple-of-minutes-is-all," she said so fast she actually needed to take a deep breath when she was done. Somehow he must have caught all of what she'd said. His optics became even bigger than Eri thought physically possible. Then he started practically hoping around the room in a panic. It reminded her of a little kid seeing a spider.

"Waspinator does not want femme fleshy to explode!" he exclaimed. At that he lost control and actually began buzzing around the tiny room. "Megatron will be so angry at Waspinator if he lets you explode!"

It wasn't quite what she had predicted would happen but it was good enough. "Waspinator," she calmly said in an attempt to calm him down. He didn't seem to hear her and kept on whizzing around like a pinball. "Waspinator," Eri stated a bit more firmly. Still, no response but his annoying panicking. "Waspinator!" she yelled.

He stopped freaking out and looked at her. Eri knew her face was probably beat red from actually shouting. She rarely ever did so. "Yes?" he asked.

"You guys might not have a restroom but I can improvise," she casually told him. "But you'll still need to do something for me."

"What?"

"I can go outside but I'm currently locked in this room." Hook.

"But… Megatron told me femme fleshy needs to remain in this room," he replied.

"He did? Hm. I guess I can see where he's coming from…" Line. "But I don't believe he would want me to explode. I know, why don't you come with me?"

"I do not want you to explode or get in trouble. So, Waspinator will have to guard female fleshy-bot while she goes to the restroom." Sinker.

"Thank you Waspinator! You rule."

~*~

A few minutes later he had lead her outside. Unfortunately, it was pitch black out and the only light came from the ship or the red hot lava. It didn't help matters she had no clue what direction the Maximals were in or that the wasp only stayed two steps away from her the entire time. He stopped and stood there for a few seconds before it clicked in Eri's head. He expected her to go right in front of him. _Of course he would. I had to explain what going to the bathroom meant in the first place._

"Um Waspinator?"

"Yes?"

"I can't go in front of you." He tilted his helm to the side as if she had lost him. "You see, not only do we humans have to go to the restroom. We have to go when no one else is watching," Eri explained. "Biologically speaking we are not able to go when someone is looking at us. And if I can't go to the bathroom..."

"Oh!" It finally dawned on him. "But I was not supposed to take you outside." His optics darted back and forth as if he expected another Predacon would appear at any moment and punish him.

"I can go behind a rock," she helpfully added. "That way you'll still technically be guarding me but I'll be able to use the restroom." He tilted his helm to the side again and scratched the back of it. To emphasize her point, Eri employed the 'potty dance'. "I really can't hold it," she whined.

"Ok!" he urged. "Go go! Waspinator will be right here."

"Thank you," she stated rushing behind the boulder. However, she didn't have to go. Instead, Eri took the precious free time to survey the area for any means of escape. Fate must've decided to spit in her face because there was no conceivable way out. A steaming pit of lava was not ten yards away for her to get over. The part of the ground not blocked by lava held no considerable cover. A couple blackened or greyish rocks littered about but nothing she could run to without being seen. They were all so far apart it was practically ridiculous. Aw shit. If she bolted to the other side of the ship he'd see her for sure and catch her. Then his 'trust' in her would be ruined. Eri let out and enormous sigh, and decided to 'take care of business' since she was already outside. Afterwards she regrettably sulked back to the waiting wasp and the ship.

He didn't pick up on her defeated mood but seemed obsessed with not getting caught as they wound their way back to her room. Eri once again attempted to memorize the various hallways but it all blurred in her head. It wasn't her fault they all looked exactly alike and appeared to have as twice as many turns as the Maximal base. At one point, both of them stopped when they heard something. It reminded her of footsteps but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She also couldn't tell 'who' it was. It didn't sound heavy enough to be Megatron but that still left three bots. None of which she wished to run into.

They stopped and he pressed her against a wall, as if she'd camouflage right into it. Meanwhile, he slowly crept down the hall and peeked around both corners. She was so busy watching him she didn't notice someone sneaking up behind her. Until something grabbed her shirt from behind.

~*~

At the Maximal Base.

The Maximals and ex-Pred silently descended from their ship. All of them knew their part and if they were going to succeed and not get Eri killed the plan had to go off flawlessly. None of them said anything to one another as they transformed and headed out. Determination dead set on all of their features. They were going to bring Eri back even if they had to tear through every Predacon to do so.

~*~

Back at the Pred Base.

Eri let out a startled "EEP!" and turned around to see who had grabbed her. Waspinator let out a shout of his own at hearing her little outburst and pulled out his weapon, until he saw who it was. "Terror-bot?" he inquired.

"I do hope we keep meeting like this," he smirked indicating the shocked/terrified expression on Eri's face. Which was quickly replaced with a look of agitation. She did not need this right now. "What's the meat-bag doing out of her cage?" he asked his wing-mate.

"Waspinator had to take fleshy femme to the restroom," the wasp answered.

"What in the inferno is a restroom?" the red flyer countered.

"I-It m…means," Eri began, "I had t-to go o…outside b-before I-I sprang a l-l-leak." She couldn't have Waspinator explain it and give away too much. "S-so Wasp…Waspinator t-took m-me outside. O…or w-would y-y-you r-rather I w-w-went a…all over the f-floor?" Eri hated how her stuttering had returned and if anything it sounded as if it had worsened! _Why do I keep running into this asshole of all people? Or should I say bots?_

"Hm," he turned his attention away from her in favor of conversing with the wasp. "Well, if she leaks you're the one who's going to clean it up," he pointed right at Waspinator. "She is your responsibility. You'd better get her back before Megatron finds out or he'll rip your wings off."

Was that concern Eri heard in his voice or was she imagining things? Could Predacons be friends? They hung out enough and talked like they were. She wouldn't put it past Waspinator, even though he worked under Megatron he actually seemed like a nice bot. Naïve and gullible but still nice and even caring. Terrorsaur was a whole other story. He'd lied for the scorpion but Eri felt there was more to that than she saw with Megatron. But he seemed to prefer spending time with the wasp. Was it because they were both flyers or could he have another side besides sadistic?

"That's what Waspinator was doing until we met Terror-bot," the wasp replied. "Come on femme fleshy," he waved her to come with him.

"Hold on," Terrorsaur stated snatching Eri by the back of her hoody to keep her from moving. At least it wasn't her bruised shoulder or hair. Still, it made her collar come up and nearly choke her. "I need to converse with you on a very important matter," he told the wasp.

"About what?"

"Let's walk and talk," the red flyer said as he started walking. He drug Eri along backwards by her hoody. This wasn't gonna work.

"I-I can w-w-walk on my o…own," she stuttered.

"Yeah, but this is much more fun." As if to prove it he violently jerked her forward. She was certain if he didn't have a hold of her she would have face planted into the metal floor. Two could play that game.

"Was-Waspinator! H-he's hurting me!" she fake cried.

Immediately, the wasp acted. He grabbed a hold of Terrorsaur's servo. "Let go of female fleshy-bot!" he exclaimed.

"What?! You're taking this fleshie's side over mine?"

"Megatron put Waspinator in charge of fleshy femme. He ordered no one to hurt her." He managed to pry Terrorsaur's grip from Eri. "So I have to guard her."

Terrorsaur merely shock his helm and looked like he was rubbing his temples. "Whatever. This flesh-bag is starting to get under my wires anyway." He actually pushed her behind them and began heading down the corridor. Waspinator soon followed but not before motioning for Eri to do the same. Seeing as she didn't have much of a choice she followed.

They stayed a little ways ahead of her and talked in hushed tones. Her hearing wasn't good enough to describe what they were saying. She only caught a couple words. "Join me…" "It is our right…" "Predacons…" "I'll…" The rest was basically gargled nonsense.

Whatever they were conversing about had Waspinator on edge. He shook his head furiously and kept 'shushing' his companion. She knew the dino flyer was up to something. Eri doubted it was good and now he had the audacity to drag the wasp into it! What she feared was worse; she doubted the wasp would refuse his friend. _What is he even doing here? He's too impressionable for this._

Just then they happened to walk past an open panel. It looked like someone had recently been working on it because wires stuck out all over the place. Better yet… Whoever it was had left a couple of their tools lying around. The flyers passed it by, too in depth with their conversation to notice. Eri slowed just a little more and waited. Luckily, they were all but ignoring her. Even when she bent down and picked up a screw-driver looking device and shoved it into her pocket. Casually, she kept walking after them like nothing had happened.

Five minutes later they were standing outside her room. Waspinator typed in some kind of code and the door opened. As calmly as she could Eri walked past the two. She held her head high and completely ignored the red flying freak. Instead, she turned her attention to the wasp and flashed him one of the friendliest smiles she could muster.

"Thank you so much for everything Waspinator," she noticeably had stopped stammering. "You're a real gentleman. Goodnight." She stepped into the room and he closed the door. But Eri could still hear what they were saying.

"Hear that," Waspinator proudly stated. "Fleshy femme said Waspinator is a gentleman."

"Shove it up your tailpipe," his wing-mate countered. She heard their footsteps get further and further away. To be sure she waited another thirty seconds before she sprang into action. Eri whipped put the screw-driver looking device and started working on the grate under the birth.

After two minutes she'd unscrewed the nuts and pulled the grate off. It appeared she would be able to fit. Eri crawled inside and barely managed to turn around to put the grate back on. She peered down the long tunnel and gulped. The corridor wasn't well lit and she had no clue where it led. Cautiously she began crawling forward.

~*~

In all honesty, Eri had no clue as to how long she had been traveling the shafts. It felt like she'd been in there for hours. Although that might have had more to do with the fact she was up, in what she assumed, was the middle of the night. More than once she'd halted and gave herself five minute breaks before she continued. Every time her body tried to drift off on her. She was able to snap out of it with the urgency her mind placed upon the situation. Eri was in enemy territory and she had no idea when the wasp would come by to check up on her again and find she was gone. So it was imperative she try to give herself as much of a head start as possible. No time to sleep now.

One thing seemed to be in her favor. They, she guessed, had basically the same anatomy as the Maximals. Which meant at some point or another they needed to sleep. Ever since she'd started winding her way through the ship she had hardly heard anyone moving around. The lateness of the hour probably meant none of them were up and about but her.

Exhausted, she once again stopped. A grate was in front of her and she took the chance to peep through and see where she was exactly. It was the room where Terrorsaur brought her to Megatron! This meant the exit had to be around there somewhere. Right?

~*~

Somewhere underground.

An alarm sounded and Tarantulas stopped his observations long enough to look up.

"Well well well," the spider cackled reading the energy signatures which had tripped his proximity alarms. "It appears the Minimals are here to rescue their little friend. What a perfect opportunity."

He went over to his main computer and typed in a specific code. "Maybe I should help them out. After all, while they're busy with Megatron it'll finally give me the chance to become acquainted with a certain human. Tehehe. Hahaha!"

Back at the Pred Base.

~*~

"I knew I should've gone left instead of right," Eri lowly grumbled. _This place is worse than a damn maze. Kami, I'm so tired._ She kept trudging along hoping she would be able to find a way out.

~*~

Outside the Base.

"Everyone in position?" Primal asked through his comm. link.

"Affirmative," Cheetor instantly answered.

"Rattrap, are you ready?" he questioned the rat.

"As ready as I'll ever be Boss-monkey."

"Alright. Everyone wait for my signal, then strike."

~*~

Inside the Base.

Eri had no idea of knowing how the seemingly quiet and lethargic ship would erupt into pure chaos. So when the base rumbled and she heard an explosion Eri wasn't entirely sure what to think. It didn't help an unnecessarily loud alarm rang throughout the entire place. It was even louder in the vents. _What's going on?_

Little did she know her own thoughts were being mirrored by every Predacon on the ship, even Megatron. All of them ran into the command room. "What is going on?" Megatron shouted over the alarms at his minions.

"Maximals," Scorponok answered. "The outer hall has been breached." Two loud explosions sounded throughout the room. "The Northeast defenses are almost gone!"

"How did they get past out outer perimeters?" their leader demanded.

"I'm not sure," Terrorsaur spoke up. He was typing away at a panel at lightning speed. "The outer defenses aren't responding!" The screen appeared to flicker back and forth. "And whatever is affecting them seems to be working its way to the ship's mainframe." Sparks flew out of the keyboard and all of the computer screens started acting up.

Megatron let out a growl as the ship kept being bombarded. "Where is Tarantulas?"

"Right here, Lord Megatron," the spider said repelling down from the ceiling and transforming. Their leader gave the spider a look but didn't say more on the matter.

"Terrorsaur, stay here and see if you can get the systems up and running. Tarantulas, Waspinator, and I will keep the Maximals at bay."

"What about me Lord Megatron?" the scorpion asked.

"Go retrieve the human. She may come in handy now. Yesss." He seemed to ponder for a moment. "Unless the task is too much for you," he clearly dug indicating the previous day.

"N-no Megatron!" he said saluting him. "I'll go retrieve her now." A second later he was off for her room.

Megatron, Tarantulas, and Waspinator ran outside and started blasting away at the opposing Maximals. Debris flew everywhere as barrage after barrage of fire was unleashed.

"We're getting hammered," Cheetor stated as a rock exploded next to him.

"Keep it up," Primal commanded. "We have to buy time for Rattrap."

Meanwhile, said rat climbed into the Pred base via a hole in the side one of his comrades had made. "Hold one Stargirl. I'm comin' for ya."

~*~

Eri looked through another grate under her in time to see Scorponok bolt past. _Where's he going?_

The scorpion reached the door and quickly entered the code. Only to be greeted by an empty room. "What?!" As if to be sure he stood there and looked around. Even under the birth there was no sign of her. "Lord Megatron," he commend.

"What is it?" his leader snarled back. "Where are you and the girl?"

"She's not here!"

"What do you mean 'she's not there'?" Megatron basically growled.

The scorpion gulped before continuing. "Her room is empty and there's no sign of her."

"Then find her you fool! Before the Maximals notice!"

Rattrap bolted down a hallway and peeked around a corner. Nothing. "Come on Stargirl, where are ya?"

_Kami, please don't let me die in this vent._ Every once and a while the ship shook from what she assumed was gun or laser fire. It hadn't taken her long to figure it was the Maximals. They were the only other beings on this planet with weapons. Weren't they? _Why did they come here? They're going to get themselves killed!_

The rat stopped when he heard something. He waited five nano-clicks (seconds) before he chanced a glance down one of the hallways connected to his. Just in time to see Scorponok frantically looking down two corridors. Rattrap took the opportunity to sneak up behind the scorpion. He pointed the end of his weapon at the back of Scorponok's helm.

"Don't move," he warned. The scorpion froze and for once, wisely, didn't turn around. "Good. Now, where is she?" he all but shouted.

"Where is she?"

_Rattrap!_ His voice didn't sound too far away. She scrambled over to the nearest grate and managed to kick it open. The grate fell to the floor with an audible 'clang' and she crawled to the ledge. Eri lowered herself out before falling about three feet to the floor. _Maybe if I can find him…_ Another loud 'boom' sounded throughout the hall and she had to grip a nearby wall for support.

"Where's who?"

"Don't play dumb with me ya pile of scrap." Rattrap tapped the side of his helm. "The human you nabbed the other day."

"I don't know."

"Yeah right," Rattrap remarked.

She came around a corner and saw him standing there with his back to her. "Rattrap!"

He whipped his head around while still keeping his weapon aimed at the scorpion. "Little lady!"

Unfortunately, Scorponok took this chance to try and make a move. He flung himself around, moving his head out of Rattrap's blasting range, and tried to get a shot off with his own weapon. He aimed dead center for the rat's chestplate.

What he didn't count on was the rat's fast reflexes. He saw the scorpion's movement out of the corner of his optic and leapt out of the way. It proved to be a crucial few seconds before a missile blasted a hole in the wall. Rattrap caught his footing as he landed and blasted three rounds right in the scorpion's midsection. Before Scorponok fell one of his pinchers fired another missile straight up into the ceiling. It exploded and brought numerous chunks of metal down into the hallway. Both Eri and Rattrap had to jump back or risk being crushed. It lasted only a few seconds before the dust settled.

Eri got to her feet and frantically looked at the rubble. "Rattrap," she called. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Stargirl," came a reply from the other side of the metallic pile. "Nothin' a hot oil bath can't fix. How 'bought you?"

"I'm fine," she stated. Her voice was filled with relief.

"Just hang tight," he called. "I'll get to ya in a second." She heard pieces of metal banging off the floor as Rattrap moved debris out of his way.

Although he was clearly fine and going to be face-to-face with her in a couple of seconds Eri had this feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't place it. What she failed to notice was a pair of glowing yellow optics right above her.

~*~

Outside the Base.

Dinobot managed to get a good shot off with is eye lasers and the wasp went crashing to the ground. Optimus flew overhead in an attempt to blast Terrorsaur who had joined the fight only moments ago. Rhinox and Cheetor hid behind the same boulder as another one of Megatron's purple lasers got too close for comfort.

"What is taking the vermin so long?" they heard Dinobot grumble from his post ten feet away.

"Do you think Rattrap found Eri," the cheetah asked.

"Don't know," the rhino replied. "But we gotta hold our positions until he gives us his signal." With that he popped up from behind his cover and commenced to using both his guns on the Preds. Cheetor followed his lead.

~*~

Something grabbed Eri from behind and before she could react she felt herself being tied up. But before whoever it was could cover her hands she reached up and tried to blind them. All the while letting out a hair-raising scream.

Rattrap didn't have to rely on his sensitive hearing to hear Eri cry out. The girl certainly had a set of pipes on her. "Eri!" he shouted ripping more chunks of metal away. He managed to move enough to see to the other side. In time to see Eri being dragged away, a glistening blue web encasing her unmoving body.


	8. Holding Your Own

Rattrap whipped out his gun and commenced to blasting the rest of the debris out of his way. He'd failed to protect Eri when she had been only a few feet from him. But it wouldn't happen again. Nobody hurt Eri and got away with it.

Scorponok swayed back and forth as he tried to stand up. He was in the process of raising his pincher to aim at the Maximal's back when he heard a noise. The scorpion glanced up in time to see a huge chunk of metal crash down on him. Rattrap peered over his shoulder to see what had made a crunching sound. He smirked when he saw the flattened Predacon and then bolted down the hall. Now he had a spider to squash.

~*~

The battle raged on outside. For once it appeared as though the Maximals could win. Even down a bot they outnumbered the Preds and didn't have to worry about the ship's weapons. This did not mean they could keep it up forever. But they would hold out as long as they had to.

~*~

Eri groggily lifted her head. Her skull felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds and her vision was extremely blurred. It took a few seconds before her sight cleared and she was able to ignore the pounding of her head. As realization of the situation struck she noticed a rather horrifying fact. She was suspended off the ground, by what appeared to be a spider-web, and she couldn't move anything except her head.

"So you're awake already," an eerily familiar voice said to her right. Eri looked to see the purple spider transform into its robot mode. "I must have miscalculated that tap to your cranium. You weren't supposed to be awake yet my dear." He went over to a computer console and taped a few keys. A figure popped up on the screen and it resembled the outline of her body.

"I suppose it's not a problem. You'll simply be conscious for my preliminary tests." The spider fiddled with the computer some more before walking over to a nearby table. On it were objects, Eri couldn't imagine their usage. However, more than a couple were oddly familiar.

"That's my backpack!" she burst out.

He stopped and looked at her before letting out a tiny chuckle. "That's right, how could I have forgotten?" The spider picked up her I-pod and quickly looked it over before setting it back on the table. "What do you think of my collection?"

Eri frantically glanced over the table and could identify at least seven more items that were hers. "W-what do y-you me…mean y-your collection?"

"They may have been yours at one time… But they're mine now. After all, I was the one who collected them after you arrived," he stated fiddling with some device she couldn't see from her angle. "You abandoned them, so they were fair game."

"I-I did n-not!"

He turned around to face her with, what seemed like a giant taser. Only when he pressed a button on the front an exceedingly thick needle popped out. Oh shit. She fervently renewed her efforts to get free. "Don't worry," he stated coming toward her, "you won't be separated from them any longer." The spider halted long enough to do one more scan on the computer screen. "You're part of my new collection now."

~*~

Rattrap ran out of the Pred base and went into beast mode. It took him all of two seconds to catch Eri's scent. She had a very strong smell and he suspected all humans did. It wasn't bad though, she smelt like lilies with a hint of mint. Thanks to this he located the opening to the spider's lair in less than a minute.

A few thoughts flashed through his mind as he transformed and moved the rock cover out of the way. First, the spider must not be as clever as everyone thought. Because he only moved his new pad to the other stinkin' side of the Pred ship. Second, after he blew up the spider's old lair rescuing Cheetor one would think the Pred would have wised up to having a fake rock as the only safeguard. Lastly, he was going to blast the spider to bits, starting with each individual leg.

~*~

Eri tensed as he was about to touch the exposed side of her leg with the terrifying device. Right before it came into contact with her skin an alarm sounded on the computer and started blinking. The spider stopped and went over to the screen. "Oh, what is it now?" he said a little irritated at being interrupted. As he tapped a few keys Eri began her attempt to get free but it didn't appear to have any visible affect at all. "Hm. Seems as though we have a visitor," Tarantulas nearly whispered. He placed the needle on the lab table and looked back at her. "Don't worry," he told her, "this won't take a cycle."

The way he said it made Eri want to vomit. She watched him step behind a nearby stalagmite and into the shadows. _Crap!_ Eri, at the very least, wanted to be able to see him coming. _What is this web made out of?!_ A small sound could be heard coming not twenty feet ahead of her.

_Is he toying with me? Ok girl, don't let him see how freaked out you are._ A figure stood in the shadows ten feet away. _Kami, I hope he can't smell fear._ As soon as the figure stepped into the light she felt her nerves instantly settle. A tiny smile actually made its way onto her face.

"Rattrap," she softly said.

He peered around quickly with his weapon in hand before bolting over to the web. "Hang on, Stargirl," he whispered. A second later he whipped out a small energon blade and began slicing at the web holding her up. "Where's the creepy crawly at?" he asked glancing around as he worked.

"I don't know. He just slipped into the shadows." Worry filed her frame once again as she fretted over where the creeper was exactly. "Get out of here while you can," she urged.

"Ain't gonna happen," he had freed her torso and was working on her legs. If he wasn't careful the blade could slice into her. It wasn't like with the cat where a blade this small wouldn't hurt him and he could make one clean cut. "We ain't leavin' without you, kiddo." While that thought was somewhat comforting she had an uneasy feeling. Her instincts screamed at her and she glanced up in time to see the spider suspended from the ceiling. He smirked down at her.

"Look out!" she cried at Rattrap as Tarantulas dropped from his hiding place. Rattrap managed to get out of the way but the spider transformed and started opening fire at him. The rat was forced to hide behind a stalagmite.

"Te hehehe. That won't help you this time rodent," he looked back to Eri. "Don't go anywhere," he taunted her.

_Freaking asshole._ She grabbed the energon blade Rattrap conveniently left stuck in the web. Luckily her torso was free and she quickly began to work on freeing her legs. _Come on, come on!_ Eri only glanced up long enough to see the spider and Rattrap firing at each other. Finally, she freed right leg. Since the web only clung to her left leg it couldn't support her weight. She felt a small tear and was certain some of her exposed skin tore off as she fell to the ground.

"Ow," she moaned. As if she didn't have enough injuries. A moment later she got up and ran to the table. She figured Rattrap could take the spider. If she stepped in now she'd only be in the way and she did not want the arachnid to use her as a shield. Like Terrorsaur had done. So she busied herself with collecting her things.

_He'd better not have screwed anything up._ Eri stuffed her old I-pod in her bag. When she was done she nervously glanced around. There was no sign of Tarantulas or Rattrap anywhere and it had gotten unnaturally quiet. Instinctively, she ducked under the table. The energon blade was still in her right hand.

"Pst," she barely heard. Eri looked over to see Rattrap behind the spider's computer.

"Where is he?" she mouthed.

In response, Rattrap shook his head that he had no idea. The rat glanced around and motioned for her to stay put. Without warning a thin blue web shot from the right and hooked Rattrap's weapon. It was ripped out of his servo before he could react. Eri barely kept herself silent as he was left defenseless.

"I told you your tricks wouldn't work a second time mousy!" The spider leapt down in front of her and taunted Rattrap with his own gun. "Once I take care of you I'll have to locate that human. No matter, I always enjoy a good hunt."

_He hasn't seen me?_ His back was to her. If she didn't act they'd both be doomed.

"You leave her out of this, ya glitch!" Even without a weapon Rattrap was as brazen as ever. As quietly as possible Eri got out from under the table.

"Just for that, I'll dissect her right in front of you," Tarantulas promised.

"Dissect this!" Eri yelled and jammed the energon blade right into his neck cables. She jumped back before he could retaliate. The spider cried out in pain as crucial circuits were either unplugged or sliced completely in half. Two seconds later he fell to the cave floor in a heap. One of his claws twitched but he didn't, or couldn't move, beyond that.

"Way to go, Stargirl!" Rattrap cheered. He walked over to Tarantulas and swiftly kicked him in the side to make sure he stayed down. No response. "I'll take these back," he retrieved the blade and his gun. "Come on," he pulled her away from the fallen spider. "The others are waitin'."

"Ok." Eri had never seriously hurt someone before. It didn't give her a good feeling. But she'd worry about feeling guilty later. He'd attacked them and she defended herself, and more importantly Rattrap. Right now she merely wanted to get the hell out of there.

On their way out Rattrap shot the computer and set a few bombs. The structure of the place began to crumble. They barely made it out of the opening before debris fell behind them. "Come back from that, eighteyes!" Rattrap called back. He shot three times in the air.

~*~

"There's the signal!" Primal alerted the others. "Fallback."

"About time," Dinobot remarked. They kept firing as they retreated to rendezvous with Rattrap.

~*~

Megatron watched their retreating forms. Something was up. He looked and noticed how many troops he was down. "Where is Tarantulas and Scorponok?" he demanded of his flyers.

Both simply shrugged. "Then find them!" he shouted.

~*~

"Eri!" Cheetor happily said seeing her.

"Cheetor!" she replied. Without thinking she ran over and hugged him. Though due to the height difference she only came up to his chestplate. "Are you alright?"

"U-uh," at first he was caught off guard until she gave him his space back. "Never better." His smile disappeared as he took notice of how banged up she looked. "What about you?!"

"Huh?" It was a couple of seconds before she understood what he was talking about. She was cut up, battered, bruised, and her hair needed brushing. Overall, Eri knew she probably was a mess. "Oh, I'm fine."

"But you're all banged up," Rattrap added. "What did those stinkin' scrapeheaps do to ya?" He sounded as worried as almost everyone else looked.

"It's a long story." Suddenly, blue and white impulses ran through all of them. It didn't look normal at all. Not to mention, they all hunched over and gasped or grunted in pain. "What's happening?" she alarmingly asked.

"Energon buildup," Cheetor managed to explain.

"Beast mode," Optimus ordered. All of them did so and the impulses stopped.

"That's what you told me about?!" Eri gasped. "Are you guys gonna be ok?"

"We'll be fine," Rhinox reassured. "We can't return to out robot modes for a while though."

"Might I suggest we finish this discussion elsewhere?" Dinobot suggested.

"Yes," Primal stated. "Let's get back to base." Eri gladly hopped on Rhinox's back and they started the trek back to the Axalon. All of them stayed alert for any Predacon surprises.

"So Eri," Cheetro began after they were nearly to base, "what happened?" He waited a few seconds but got no reply. "Eri?" All of them looked over to see if he had upset her or something along those lines. Instead, they found her recharging sitting upright. Her body moved occasionally due to Rhinox's steps but her eyes were firmly closed.

"Poor thing's exhausted," Rhinox said.

"She's had a long couple of solar cycles," Primal stated. "Let her sleep. She can explain things later."

"I'm just glad she's back," Cheetor smiled at her resting form.

"You and the rest of us spots," Rattrap added. "Wait 'till I tell you what she did to Tarantulas."

~*~

Back at the Predacon Base.

"Your stupidity astounds me," Megatron groaned. It would take countless hours to repair all the damage done to the ship. Although it hadn't taken long to find Scorponok, the moron had been trapped under a decent piece of the ship's ceiling and had to be placed in one of the CR baths. Tarantulas… Had proven more difficult. It had taken them fifty cycles to get him out. He had been placed in the other bath not long ago.

Waspinator, Terrorsaur, and himself had also received damage during the battle. Most of their internal repairs could handle it but that meant they were also stuck, for a time, in beast mode. "Now the Maximal's have the girl. I doubt they'll exactly let her out of their sights anytime soon. Yessss."

"I don't see why we need her anyway," Terrorsaur grumbled. "She was nothing but a pain in the afterburners."

"We need her," Megatron got right in the flyer's face, "for an important plan."

"What plan?"

"In due time," he continued. "Until then it would be in your best interest not to question me Terrorsaur," Megatron growled.

Said flyer squawked and jumped behind Waspinator.

"As soon as repairs are complete we will teach those Maximals a lesson they won't forget. Yesssss."

~*~

At the Maximal Base.

Eri knew she was asleep. But she slowly began to regain consciousness. Not hard considering a bright white light was coming through her eyelids. She squinted as the whiteness of the room hurt her eyes and she attempted to adjust.

"Eri…" A voice called to her. It sounded like they were really far away. "Precious…Treasure…"

She gasped and bolted upright. Eri glanced around but she wasn't in a white room. It was dark and she was lying on metal. _I'm back at the Maximal base._ She caught her breath and calmed her nerves. _What is up with my dreams lately?_ She didn't remember having ones this vivid before.

As she swung her legs over the side of the birth a familiar object caught her eye. "My backpack!" There was no mistaking it. It was black with little aquamarine stars dotting it. She went over and rummaged around inside. It took a minute but she finally found what she was searching for. A small bag of chips. Eri devoured some of them and would worry about getting something to drink later. But she did try to conserve and saved half the bag. Who knew when she'd find food again.

Next priority was checking herself. She knew most of it wasn't too bad but she couldn't risk an infection. A couple band-aids were in her front pocket but she only had to use one on the back of her leg where the web had ripped the skin off. She located a mini mirror in the same pocket to check her face. Eri was not one for caring about superficial appearances but it didn't hurt to check and see if something was stuck in your teeth.

She nearly gasped. Eri knew it wasn't going to be pretty but… This went to the next level. Little cuts could be found on her right cheek and above her left eye. Her right eye itself looked worse than anything. It was black and blue and was beginning to turn a purple color. Probably would be for a week. Her hair currently wasn't helping the image.

Once again she scavenged in her bag and found a mini hairbrush. It hurt getting all of the rats out but at least it looked better. _Man, my hair is getting greasy. Wonder if these guys have a shower? Doubt it, seeing as they didn't even have a toilet._ Her hand touched something plastic and she paused. She pulled it out to see it was her water bottle. _So this is where I put it._ Coarse there was nothing in it but the point was she had it. Eri decided to take inventory later and got up. She winched slightly. Her shoulder was killing her where Terrorsaur had grabbed and lifted her up. When she checked, it was black with purple indents where his fingers had been. She let out a sigh. Well, she could hide this one under her shirt, unlike the matching one on her arm. Eri didn't want the others to feel bad for her or guilty. They had come to save her…

Risked their lives for her. Why? They barely knew her and all she did was get in the way. Maybe they were like her in the regard she didn't want to see anyone injured or in pain. She flashed back to how angry she'd been at the spider when he threatened Rattrap. Eri stepped out into the hallway and made her way to the control room.

"Hea guys," she greeted.

"Little lady!" Rattrap turned away from where he sat at one of the screens.

"Eri, how are you?" Rhinox asked getting up from his own post.

"A bit sore but good," she assured. "Where is everyone?" No one else was there.

"Cheetor and Optimus are on patrol," Rhinox explained.

"Dinobutt's around here somewhere," Rattrap added.

"Oh, I just wanted to thank everyone. Especially you, Rattrap," she beamed at him.

"I'm the one who should be thankin' you," he replied. She merely gave him a curious look so he continued. "You were the one who stomped eighteyes, not me."

"B-but you blasted the scorpion!" she countered. "I can't believe you all came to rescue me."

"Why?" Rhinox inquired.

"Well, you only met me a few days ago. And all you guys seem to be doing is coming to my rescue," Eri admitted. "You'd be better off without me around."

"You're wrong," a voice said behind them. They all turned to see Primal walk in.

"Optimus!" Eri happily exclaimed. She thought about what he had said. "What do you mean?"

"Eri," he gently explained. "Just like us I believe you were placed here for a reason. And from what I've heard you've held your own against the Predacons."

"By what definition?" she inquired in disbelief.

"You've stood up to Terrorsaur, defended Cheetor against Scorponok, and saved Rattrap from Tarantulas. I call that holding your own," he seriously told her.

"Yeah, but you guys were only in those dangerous situations because of me! The Predacons are coming after you because I'm with you."

"Listen little lady," Rattrap interrupted. "We've been fightin' these Preds long before you got here. And we'd still be fightin' 'em if you weren't."

Seeing they weren't going to let her win this she decided to drop the subject. "Alright, but you hardly even know me. Why go to all the trouble?"

"Let me ask you this," Optimus knew how to turn this around. "If someone else had been in your place would you have done any different?"

"No," she stated without hesitation.

"Then that answers your question."

Damn he's good. "Fine. At least tell me if any of you were hurt."

"Actually, we were pretty lucky," Rattrap stated.

"We received less damage retrieving you then in any previous battle," Rhinox admitted.

"You might be a good luck charm," the rat patted her shoulder. Unfortunately, it was her injured one and she couldn't help but flinch. "You ok, kiddo?" Rattrap immediately stopped and asked her.

"Peachy," she replied.

"If it's not too troublesome what exactly happened with the Predacons?" Rhinox inquired. They were all worried about what she had been subjected to.

"No problem," Eri answered. She went on to describe how she'd been snatched form Cheetor and then managed to escape from Scorponok. Only to be shortly recaptured by Terrorsaur and how he'd kinda hurt her shoulder. Then, her meeting with Megatron and how she'd played stupid. Then he gave her a tour of the dismal ship and locked her in a room. Eri described how she had played Waspinator but couldn't escape until she'd snatched a screwdriver looking thing. (Which she did still have in her pocket.) Her long and annoying trip through the airvents until the Maximals came to save her.

"The worst part was when that spider grabbed me and was going to use me as a genie pig. But I did get my stuff back," she concluded.

"You tore up Scorponok and played Waspinator like a fiddle!" Rattrap stated laughing, but not at Eri. "Oh, I'm beatin' it was priceless. You're more than worth your weight in energon girlfriend," he congratulated her by putting his hand on her uninjured shoulder.

"It was a wise decision to keep Megatron in the dark," Primal stated with a smile.

"Good move," Rhinox added. "He doesn't even know who you are." Even being praised Eri still had a disconcerting look on her face. Though she did her best to hide it the others caught it. "What's wrong?" Rhinox asked her.

"It's just… I'm happy I found all my things. Even if they were with that spider," she explained. "So I kind of hoped the ball that brought me here would have been with him. He had everything else, you know? But it wasn't."

"Are you sure?" Optimus questioned.

She sadly nodded and Rattrap backed her up. "Stargirl's right. Besides the usual creep-fest nothin' was out of the ordinary."

"If he didn't have it then maybe it's not here." None of them cared for the disappointment in her voice.

"Don't you worry," Rattrap comforted her. "I'm beatin' bugeyes overlooked it. Probably thought it was a rock or somethin'."

Eri didn't seem to take the possible explanation well. Primal and Rhinox motioned for him to keep trying. "Hea, kiddo. You ever play cyberpoker before?" he randomly asked.

The distraction worked and caught her off guard. "N-no."

"Well, then it's about time!" He led her toward one of the screens.

"But I don't know h-how."

"I'll teach ya," he answered.

"Optimus," Rhinox kept his voice down so Eri wouldn't hear. "She's probably right. Tarantulas was thorough enough to collect Eri's possessions and even Eri herself. If he'd seen anything out of the ordinary he would have kept it. And I doubt he would've overlooked a perfectly spherical glowing ball like the one she described."

"You may be correct," Primal admitted also keeping his voice hushed. Luckily, Eri was sitting in a chair distracted by virtual cards on the screen. Rattrap stood next to her and instructed how to play. "But we can't lose hope. We'll take turns on scouting missions. Dinobot's shift just started. It'd be best if Eri remained in the ship for now."

"No argument there." Eri held up the virtual cards and Rattrap told her how to use the virtual credits. "I hope we do find it and soon. For Eri's sake."


	9. Deja Vu With a Twist

Things proved to be rather quiet the next few days. No Predacons appeared anywhere on their scanners. Like they were purposefully sticking to their own turf. That didn't mean the Maximal base wasn't on lockdown. With the acception of patrols no one left the base. This mainly meant Eri. Of course this arose its own set of unique problems. Particularly when it concerned her need of facilities. She'd been too embarrassed to admit it but once Rattrap spoke up about the issue Rhinox was quick enough to find a solution. He created a 'bathroom' for her, including a rudimentary shower once she stated hygiene problems. As far as food and water were concerned she was set there. Whoever was on patrol returned with some sort of beans or fruit substance and her canteen when it was empty. They were even nice enough to keep her mind off the situation or the fact the sphere was still M.I.A.

Besides cyberpoker the rat attempted to teach her other various computer games. However, it was more common for him to be teaching her Cybertronian. Eri had been ecstatic to learn Rattrap knew English and Japanese. In light of her situation she thought it prevalent to learn as much as possible about them, including their language. She proved to be a quick study and was able to learn a few key words and phrases. It helped Rhinox as he instructed her how to use Sentinel. Eri could start up the defense system and turn on the CR chamber. Both realized it never hurt to be prepared.

Cheetor was not to be left out. He mostly told her about Cybertron and what wonders the world held. Meanwhile, it was not out of the ordinary for Optimus to converse with her about the various worlds they had explored and catalogued. To say Eri was fascinated was an understatement. The only one who appeared to avoid her like the plague was Dinobot, she wasn't against giving him a wide berth.

However, they knew a problem was arising. All of them recognized Eri had everything she needed, except for fresh air. Opening a window was one thing but everyone knew humans weren't meant to be cooped up forever. She needed to be able to run around in sunlight with plenty of room. Although she wasn't complaining Rattrap suspected Eri hadn't been exceedingly outgoing before coming there but at least she'd been able to walk to and from her school. But they acknowledged that even if being smothered in the ship was bothering her she wouldn't tell them. Keeping her busy would only work for so long.

"Is there no end to what this girl requires?" Dinobot sneered.

"Stuff it Dinobutt," Rattrap retorted. "She's been nothin' but a little angel since getting' here and hasn't caused you any grief."

"Why don't one of us just take her on a short patrol?" Cheetor offered. "The Predacons haven't made a peep since we whopped them."

"Oh," Dinobot interjected. "And run the risk of her being kidnapped again?"

Cheetor let out a low growl. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Would you all knock it off?" Rhinox stepped forward. "I'm sorry Cheetor but Dinobot had a point. It would be too risky for only one of us to accompany her."

"So, what do we do?" the cat inquired.

"I have an idea," Primal stated.

~*~

"We're what?" Eri asked as they all stood in the command center.

"We're all taking you out," Cheetor answered her.

"But why?"

"'Cause you look like ya could get a bit of sun there, Stargirl," Rattrap said.

"I-I'm fine though guys. Really," she told them.

"Come on Eri," Rhionx spoke up. "It'll be good for you."

"But I don't want to be a bother," she countered.

"You're no bother Eri," Optimus patted her shoulder. "Besides, all of us could us some fresh air, you included."

Eri glanced around the room and knew she wouldn't win this one. "Alright, but will the ship be fine unmanned?"

"Sentinel can handle any Pred problems," the rat replied.

"And we won't go too far from the base," Primal ushered her toward the elevator before she could protest.

She got on it and stood next to Cheetor in his beast mode. "Well, it does look like a nice day out."

~*~

A couple of hours later and Eri was having a blast. They were just out of sight form the base in a small clearing. They'd hiked most of the time and showed her different ways to get back to the base, just in case. And they had observed the local wildlife. She finally understood what their original job had entailed before getting sidetracked by the Predacons, and she found she liked it.

"Wow," she exclaimed as a butterfly flew right past her. "Your job sounds amazing. Traveling the galaxy and cataloguing new things."

"It's ultra-gear," Cheetor agreed.

"So, if this place isn't Earth, where are we exactly?" she inquired. It astounded her just how mush this world reminded her of her own. It even had similar flora and fauna.

"Not sure," Rhinox answered. "This place isn't on any of our charts."

"Hm," Eri couldn't help but wonder.

"We should return to base," the raptor reported. He'd been the only one who hadn't enjoyed himself.

"Cool it Chopperface," the rat retorted. "We haven't seen any Preds in over seven solar cycles. Except for your ugly mug."

"Stifle it vermin!" Dinobot mocked. Eri watched the exchange a little confused. _What does Rattrap mean by 'Except for' Dinobot?_ "Megatron could be waiting until we let our guards down before he strikes!"

"Ah Dinobot," a familiar voice said behind them. "Your instincts are as keen as ever I see." Sure enough when they all turned Megatron stood up on the ridge. And he wasn't alone. They soon found they'd been flanked on all sides by the other Preds. There was a dreaded feeling of déjà vu as everyone transformed and the Maximals placed themselves in a protective circle around Eri.

"Not again," she mumbled. "Don't these guys have anything better to do?"

"Last chance Primal," Megatron taunted. "Hand over the human and I'll let you live to see another day."

"You want her?" Optimus replied. "Come and get her."

The fight that followed was absolute insanity. Everyone ducked and dived as they shot and fired at one another. What made it worse this time was the Predacons had the high ground and the Maximals had no cover. Eri wasn't a tactician but she knew this was bad. Optimus shot up into the air to try and handle the flyers but the others were still getting hammered. She watched Cheetor get hit in the leg and Rattrap in the shoulder. All because of her.

No. She wouldn't stand there and watch her friends get blasted apart. It was time to take matters into her own hands. Once Optimus blasted Waspinator out of his position Eri saw her opening. Without hesitation she ran past the cat and rat right into the battlefield. "Hea!" she yelled and everyone looked at her. "Megatron!" she called running down the ridge. "You want me? Come and get me!"

"Stargirl!" Rattrap yelled.

"No!" Primal called to her.

"What are you doing?" Rhinox shouted.

"Well, isn't this amusing," Megatron noted watching her fleeing form. "After her you fools!"

"No you don't!" Cheetor stated blasting Tarantulas. "Rattrap, go after her."

"I don't think so," Scorponok unleashed a volley of missiles at them.

~*~

Eri didn't bother glancing back to see who exactly could be after her. She knew it would slow her down. She plunged past some undergrowth and came screeching to a halt. "Oh shit!" she practically yelled. Eri managed to keep her balance as she found herself perched on the edge of a cliff. Below she saw the same river that ran under the Maximal base. She knew if she went right and followed the river upstream she'd eventually reach the base. The girl didn't want to abandon her buds but if she could lure some of the Preds within Sentinel's defense grid they'd have a better chance. _Not like I've got any better options right now._

An eerie screech sounded somewhere behind her. _Nope. I'm not gonna even bother turning around!_ She ran faster, making sure to duck under any trees or other plants in her path to block the flyer's view.

"Run as fast as you can, fleshy," Terrorsaur's voice rang above her. "You'll never outrun me."

_Boy he likes to hear himself talk._ Eri saw an opening in the foliage ahead and realized the base wasn't too far away. _Crap. I'll have to just keep running for it. There's nowhere to hide between there and here._ So Eri had no choice but to keep running as she heard the annoying noise the flyer made getting closer. She had to stop and almost fell as she avoided being hit by a shot. _When the hell did he transform?_

He hovered down in front of her with his weapon aimed. "You had to have seen this coming, meat-bag," he told her.

That's it, Eri had heard enough from this jerk and his better-than-thou attitude. "Oh I-I'm so im-impressed," she bluntly stated. "W-what a r…real accomplishment. Sh-shouting an unarmed g-g-girl!"

He scowled at her comment but regained his evil smirk as he let out an evil chuckle. "Don't worry about that," he came closer. "After all the trouble you've given me I'll strangle you with my very own servos," Eri was forced to stop as her foot hit the edge of the cliff. "And Megatron will never be the wiser."

Without warning two familiar green lasers came from seemingly nowhere and blasted Terrorsaur thirty feet away from her. She stood there completely stunned for a moment before looking over to her savior. "Dinobot!"

"Attacking an unarmed human, pathetic," he snarled glancing where the flyer had landed. Then he turned to her, "And you, you foolish girl! What good was that little stunt you pulled back there?"

"I was tr-trying to s-save you g…guys!" she managed. "They're on-only after me. S-so I th-thought I could le…lead them away."

"We do not need your assistance," he told her. "We are perfectly capable of handling the Predacons without having to worry about you running off." His voice cut through her like a knife but she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She saw Terrorsaur lean up form where he landed, with a gaping hole in his side, and aim his gun.

"Dinobot! Look out!" she attempted to push him out of the way as the flyer fired.

A few things seemed to happen all at once. Eri trying to shove Dinobot aside, the warrior turning and seeing what she meant, him grabbing her and turning them so he would get the blunt of the damage. Also, the shot missing them by a hair and hitting the ground where they stood. The edge gave way and the two went tumbling down. Eri didn't scream as he held onto her and they fell. But time almost appeared to stop for a split-second. She caught a glimpse of the sky above and the cliff wall going past them at a high rate of speed. The only thing she was able to notice next was a harsh impact, her vision temporarily going black, and water engulfing her.


	10. Unsettling

Eri's vision soon returned to her but before that she could feel herself being ripped from Dinobot's grasp after the initial impact. She worried more for the raptor than she did for herself and instantly looked for his form underwater when her sight came back. But in the rippling currents she couldn't make anything out past five feet ahead of her. Then she fought to the surface and battled to catch her breath as she was tossed about. Even faced with this, and the fact she was not a strong swimmer, she still glanced around for him.

"D-Dinobot!" she called out, only instead of her normal stutter her voice broke due to briefly going under or swallowing water. "W-where are y-you?" She fought to stay up as the current seemed to increase. Eri barely managed to dodge some rocks that jutted up out of the blue and white torrent. "Answer me!"

~*~

At the scene of the battle.

"Where is she?!" Megatron snarled at the flyers as Waspinator supported a badly injured Terrorsaur.

"I almost had her," the red flyer gasped out in pain. "But then Dinobot got in the way. When he blasted me him and the girl went over a cliff. They're both scrap by now."

Megatron growled but didn't let his irritation show other than that. "We need her alive," he mumbled as the rest of the Predacons looked to him for guidance. "Retreat for now, but this isn't finished yet. Noooo." With that he transformed to beast mode and his subordinates followed his lead as they charged out of there. Waspinator supporting Terrorsaur as they flew.

"We got them on the run!" the cat announced as they watched the retreating forms.

"That was too easy," Primal landed and was forced to return to beast mode or get his circuits fried. The others did the same as the energon affected them.

"Yeah," Rattrap actually agreed with their leader. "Terrorsaur didn't have Eri so Chopperface musta done his job. For once."

"If that's the case," Rhinox added. "Why'd they hightail it out of here so fast?"

"Terrorsaur was also injured," Optimus stated. "So Dinobot must have gotten to him so where are they?"

"Something might have happened!" Cheetor nearly yelled. "Come on, Eri could be hurt!" he didn't wait for a response as he bolted in the direction the girl and raptor had headed.

~*~

Miles away.

Eri dragged herself to the shore and coughed up an entire gallon of water. "Gah!" she inhaled deeply glad to be out of the swirling nightmare. She sat on her knees and it was a full minute until she began to breathe normally again. When she got that luxury back she rung out her hair and soaked shirt. _Where in the world am I?_ She took in her surroundings but didn't recognize any of it. _Not really a surprise. That river probably took me a couple miles away from the base._ Eri let out an enormous sigh. Under normal circumstances she was all for staying where you were and letting the search parties find you. But not now.

She got to her feet and looked upriver before she took off her soaked shoes and socks. Eri tied the laces together and slung her shoes around her shoulders. She'd seen enough Discovery channel episodes to know letting your feet rot or get blisters was not a good thing. The ground was soft enough to not hurt her feet and she'd just keep an eye out for anything that could be harmful. She'd put her shoes back on once they had the chance to dry. _I'd better get moving._ If she followed the river back the way she'd come it should be simple enough to find the base. There hadn't been any tributaries or split offs. Besides, that advice about staying put and waiting to be saved never considered the threat of Predacons. They could find her as easily as the Maximals. If she wanted to get back to the base she'd have to do it herself. If she got lucky she wouldn't see any Preds and maybe find Dinobot.

_I hope he's alright. Right after I got tossed in I lost him._

~*~

"Well, this is the pits," the rat exclaimed as the Maximals peered over the edge of the cliff. They'd followed Rattrap and Cheetor's noses to find Eri's scent. Then they followed it to the cliffside and it wasn't hard to figure out what had happened to the girl and raptor.

"Could Eri have survived that?" Cheetor asked the others.

"I'm sure Dinobot took appropriate action," Primal assured everyone, including himself.

"What do we do now?" the rhino inquired. "Do we go after them?"

"We'll have to return to the ship for repairs before we do anything," Optimus instructed. "We wouldn't do any good out in the open like this at less than our full strength. We were lucky the Predacons received as much damage as we did."

"But what about Eri and Dinobot?" Cheetor questioned. "We can't just leave them out here." He glanced at the sun heading toward the western horizon. "And it'll be dark soon."

"Cool your circuits kid," Rattrap reassured. "If there's one thing about Dinobutt I can actually rely on it's that sense of 'a warrior's honor' he's always harping about. He'll protect Eri."

"I hope you're right about that," the cat didn't sound pleased with the answer as he peered down river. "And for Eri's sake, they better have stayed together."

~*~

Eri was finally able to put her shoes back on after about an hour of walking and drying. Instead of the oppressive heat there was now a soft chill to the air. She saw the setting sun and realized nightfall would soon be upon her. _Crap. I thought I would be able to get back before night. Guess not._

She didn't have anything to make a fire with, she'd left her backpack and its contents back at the base. And there wasn't any flint to use. I'll have to improvise. I wish Haruko was here. She'd know what to do. Eri shook her head. No, she could not have that kind of attitude and hope to make it through the night. She had to think positively and be productive. It had helped her back at the Pred base and it would help her now.

_Let's see. I don't have any flint, a lighter, matches, or even rope I could rub a stick with. But…_ She felt the lucky yo-yo still in her pocket. _Thank you Haruko!_

~*~

Hours later.

Eri sat in a small cavern near the river. A fire burned in front of her but thankfully the cave let plenty of air in so she wouldn't suffocate. Next to her was a good bundle of firewood and a makeshift spear. Before sunset she'd used the yo-yo, or more importantly, the string to rub two sticks together fast enough to eventually make smoke. And a couple tries later a fire. Her hands would be sore for days but she ignored it. _Watching those survivor shoes on Discovery paid off_. After making a fire and stoking a decent amount of wood to keep her going the entire night she set to work to make a weapon. Animals were likely to know she was there and most would probably leave her alone. But she couldn't be sure, especially at night, of any unknown predators. So she'd fashioned a wooden spear with the help of a sharp rock. Then, she used the yo-yo to tie that rock to another spear for added measure.

Crude but it would work in a pinch. Now she sat with the fire keeping her nice and warm watching the darkness outside the cave. She held the rock spear in her hands. Eri knew she couldn't afford to let the fire go out so she needed to stay awake the rest of the night. Every so often she would get up and walk around to keep herself active and alert. Her rumbling stomach helped keep her up. She ate before hiking around with the Maximals but all that exercise, falling off a cliff, the walking, and preparing for the night zapped her of her energy. At least with the Preds she got fed.

Eri heard rustling outside the cave and froze where she sat. Her grip on the spear tightened as she stared in the direction the noise had come from. It helped somewhat that it appeared there would soon be two full moons. It lit up the area a lot better than one moon had back on earth.

She stood up and took a fighting stance with the weapon in hand. _Guess those old lessons are finally coming back to me._ Eri took a step forward and got ready to grab one of the sticks she kept close to the fire, a sort of makeshift torch. The noise grew louder and she leaned down slowly and grabbed the torch and lit it. Then, she trust it at the figure who appeared from the darkness.

~*~

Cheetor stepped out of the CR chamber and looked to the others. "Where's Big-bot?"

"Out looking for Eri and Dinobot," Rhinox answered. "Rattrap should be back soon and you can take his place."

"Why don't I go now? And why aren't you out there too Rhinox?"

"Optimus's orders," the rhino answered searching the scanners. "The Preds know we'll be out looking for them and leave the base undermanned. At least two of us have to be here if they all decide to make a move."

"Gotcha," He looked to the door waiting for the rat to appear. He was the fastest team member and it felt wrong to simply be standing there when he should be out looking for Eri.

~*~

"Gah!"

"By the Inferno!"

Eri froze and looked into the face of who she was about to attack. "Dinobot!" she exclaimed. "Ow!" the stick she held got too hot and she tossed it back into the fire. Without thinking she ran over and hugged him, which was rather comical seeing as she only came up to his waist. "I'm so glad you're alright."

The warrior was genuinely shocked by her reaction and had no idea what to do in this situation. "Of course I am alright human. Now get off of me."

"Oh," she noticed the position she was in. "S-sorry," she mumbled letting go of him and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

It was then he took the chance to glance around the cave. It surprised him she was able to start a fire and had made some… Weapons. More like toys in his eyes that would have no effect on any decent Predacon whatsoever but she had given protecting herself a shot. He had to give her credit for ingenuity and trying. "It appears you have been busy," he stated not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah," she replied. She was glad to see him ok and everything but now that he was in front of her… She had no clue how to interact with him. She'd spent plenty of time with the others and felt comfortable around them. But Dinobot was another story entirely. "Um," she began. "T-thank y-you for sav…saving m-me."

He snorted. "It was a mere reflex," he explained. "You would not have survived the fall on your own. I could not be dishonored by allowing you to perish under my watch." He mumbled the next bit but she thought she caught, "And the vermin would never let me hear the end of it."

His brushing off of the entire incident threw her a bit but she decided not to dwell on it. She recovered her rock spear and sat down on the opposite end of the fire. He started having energon buildup and had to switch to beast mode. He went to the other side from her and laid down. His beast mode unnerved her a little, probably because she couldn't get _Jurassic Park_ out of her head. He could be a deadringer for those raptors.

She slowly felt herself nod off. Eri would startle awake and look up at Dinobot. He didn't say anything and appeared to be looking out of the cave into the darkness. "You should get recharge while you can," he finally instructed her after about the fifth time she jerked awake. "We will have much ground to cover and I do not want to hear the excuse you are tired."

"Ok," she was too tired to argue. "But what about y-you?"

"I will be fine, now quiet. I am trying to listen." She kept her mouth shut after that and decided she might as well get some sleep. Eri knew he was probably right about how far they would have to travel and who knew what else they might run into. She placed the rock spear next to her and made sure the fire would be alright for a couple more hours. Then, she reluctantly put her head on the cave floor and fell asleep. Easier than one would have thought considering she was used to falling asleep on metal by this point.

~*~

She was lying down in a pure white room. Her head felt a little fuzzy but she forced herself to sit up and look around. Eri was on some sort of table wearing weird looking clothes. _Where am I? What's going on? Is anyone there? Hello?_

"Eri…" a faint sounding voice called to her.

"Hello?" she replied. "Rattrap? Cheetor is that you? Dinobot?"

"Eri…" the voice repeated. It was not one she recognized. "Precious… Treasure…" The voice seemed to be getting closer. "We are here… Come to us child…"

"Who are you? Where are you?" The only thing she could see was blinding white light.

"Eri…" The voice sounded like it was right next to her. "We are waiting…"

"Human!" an irritated voice jolted her out of the strange dream.

"Huh? What?!" she half panicked jumping up from where she had been and looked around. Two seconds later she saw a very angry looking Dinobot staring at her in his beast mode. "Dinobot, w-what's w-wrong?"

"It is time for us to move," he told her. She glanced behind him and saw that it was still partially dark out. He moved toward the exit and turned back to growl at her. "Well? Are you coming or not girl?"

"Uh, c-coming," she replied grabbing her rock spear. She didn't bother with the other seeing as it would only slow her down.

~*~

At the Maximal Base.

"Any sign?" Optimus asked Rhinox coming in from his search. Cheetor had practically run over Rattrap getting out the door.

"None," Rhinox replied. "Not even a blip."

"That's odd," Primal stated. "Could the river have taken them that far away from the base?"

"Not likely," the rhino replied knowing where his friend was going with this. "It's almost as if someone's blocking Dinobot's com link and signal."

"Megatron?"

"Possibly, but when could he have made it?"

"Good point," the primate glanced over the scans himself. "But if he didn't then who else?"

"That's what worries me."

~*~

Unknown location.

Eri welcomed the sun as it came up. Walking had kept her warm, but only to some extent. Although, she knew she'd probably be begging for shade later in the heat of the day. The raptor kept up a brutal pace and occasionally peered over his shoulder at her. He didn't say anything but the look reminded her of 'Hurry the hell up'. She attempted to keep his pace. But she had to take two or three strides to his one. Eri basically had to run. And while she was not terribly out of shape or anything she wasn't exactly on her schools track team either.

Finally her feet gave out on her. She had to stop and rest against a rock. He snarled and turned around not hearing her following him. "Come on," he ordered. "The longer we are out here the more exposed to the enemy we become."

"I can't w-walk any…anymore," she countered. "And y-you're walking t-t-too fast, I can't ke…keep up."

"For the love of Primus," he exclaimed. "Why was I the one stuck with such a helpless and weak girl?"

She gave him a pissed off look at that. Yes, she may have been slow compared to him. But she hadn't asked for this to happen. "T-then why don't y-you just le…leave?" she asked. "I'll be fi-fine on my own."

"As if you'd survive five minutes without me…" But he stopped and turned his head the opposite way from her. It was as if he were listening for something.

"W-what is it?"

"Shh," he uttered. "I hear something." Eri kept quiet and waited for him to do something or tell her what it was. A buzzing filled the air. "Predacons!" he transformed and readied himself for battle. He then turned to her. "Hide!" and she did exactly that. She ducked behind the nearest tree and glanced around waiting for the impending attack. But none ever came. Both of them kept their eyes, and optics, on the open sky but saw no sign of Waspinator. For a moment it sounded as if he were only thirty feet from them, but then the buzzing vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Finally, Dinobot transformed back to beast mode and she took it as incentive to come out. "We will have to go the long way around," he told her. "If we simply follow the river there is no cover ahead and Waspinator would spot us within nano-kliks."

"How l-long will it t-take to re…reach the base if we take the l-long way?" she questioned.

"Another solar cycle."

_Another day? Well, I suppose we don't really have a choice._ Eri didn't complain as they headed out again, this time Dinobot taking them what she assumed was east instead of straight ahead, north. _I hope the others find us soon. Something doesn't feel right and Dinobot certainly isn't helping my nerves._ Eri paused for a moment and peered into the sky. _I wonder what else is out there, just waiting for us. Waiting for me._


	11. Lost

They walked for a few more hours and Eri's feet were killing her but she didn't complain. She trudged on and couldn't help but notice Dinobot appeared to have slowed down a bit. Though she wasn't going to comment openly about it. Her stomach growled a few times but she ignored it. They only stopped long enough for her to drink some water from streams or use the bathroom. He grumbled about it but other than some mumbling Eri didn't hear any more. _Maybe he's not too bad. He slowed down and stops when I need to. If only he wasn't so grouchy, I could overlook his appearance like I did with Rattrap._

The entire day passed by in a similar fashion. There was no sign of the Predacons or the Maximals. Dinobot summarized they would still be searching for them on the main river and not through the forest. "I wish one of the guys were here," Eri sighed. She knew they wouldn't be talking much due to keeping an eye out for the Preds but at least they would say more than two words to her. And she knew for a fact the other Maximals wouldn't growl at her. Something else weighed on Eri's mind as they continued.

"H-hea Dinobot?" she finally asked.

"What is it?" he basically snarled.

"T-the other d-day Rattrap said that w-w-we hadn't run into any P-Preds ex…except for y-you. What d-did he m…mean by that?"

He stopped walking for a second and she nearly tripped trying to not run into him. He didn't say anything but continued to look straight ahead. Eri thought he wasn't going to reply so it startled her when he let out a hiss. "You would be wise to ignore what that vermin has to say," he unhelpfully said.

She didn't like how he called Rattrap 'vermin' but she could always address that later. "Are y-you going t-t-to answer my que…question or not?"

"It is none of your business," he glared back at her and bared his teeth. She took a step back but gave him a determined look the next second. If she could face Terrorsaur then she could deal with this robo-raptor. He noticed her giving him her own 'death-glare'. It wasn't threatening in the least for him but he knew she wouldn't let the issue drop until he gave her a proper answer. He could feel the beginnings of a processor-ache coming on. "Very well, if you must have an answer," he turned away from her and started walking again so she had to keep up as he talked. "When we first crash landed on this planet I was with the Predacons."

Eri listened attentively as he described how he left the Preds because he thought Megatron was an idiot. No argument from her there. Then, how he tried to become leader of the Maximals by fighting Optimus. She wasn't surprised by this information for some reason. He lost and then joined the Maximals so that he could one day obliterate the Preds. And keep his honor. The girl didn't comment but did start to see where the raptor was coming from. Maybe he was so angry all the time because Megatron booted him out and he never really felt like one of the Maximals. Course she couldn't read his mind but Eri had a talent for reading people, or bots, in this case. She knew she might be wrong but at least she wasn't thinking he was going to turn on her at any point. He obviously cared for his honor. It wouldn't let him kill her, or apparently leave her behind to be killed.

"What in the inferno are you staring at?" She jumped a little and didn't realize she had been staring at him as they walked.

"U-uh no…nothing," she stammered.

"Humans," he grumbled. He looked back at her for a moment before he asked him own question. "Why do you stutter?"

"W-what?" she was caught off guard.

"That!" he exclaimed. "It is annoying as pit! I have heard you converse with the others and you do not do it with them. So why do you do it merely around me?"

"I-I um," she failed to come up with something. Luckily, she didn't have to as he bumped into something. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was going as he glared back at her so he ran right into a stone wall. The act of him being caught off guard and staring at the wall like he could kill it with his eyes was too much for Eri. She couldn't help but let out a small giggle. It immediately quieted down as he turned to her with the same frown. "Sorry," she apologized barely hiding her smile.

They turned to the wall. "W-what is that doing o-out here?" she asked. It was clearly a wall, not merely stones piled on top of one another. But in order for it to be there then some intelligent being had to make it. But who?

He didn't answer her as he examined it more closely. "We did not make this," he stopped when he found some marking on the wall. "And I am certain neither did the Predacons."

"T-then who?" she joined him and the marking caught her attention. Other beings inhabited this world besides the Maximals and Predacons? Who were they? What were they? "Holy shit!" she burst out in shock.

"What is it?" he was surprised by her outburst.

"I know that symbol!"

"You what?"

"It's the symbol for 'be gone' in Sumerian," she got right up on the symbol as if it would change anything.

"How do you know?" he demanded. How was she able to translate something when he had no idea?

"I watched a special on the Discovery channel," was her answer. "I got interested in the language and read a few books. I know this is it. It means 'be gone'." This was making Eri nervous. Why would the language of humanities ancestors be on this rock? Who wrote it? And, more importantly, were they somewhere on the planet?

~*~

Predacon Base.

"Report!" Megatron slammed his fist down on his chair. His minions stood in front of him.

"There's no sign of the meat-bag or traitor anywhere," Terrorsaur answered.

"Have you searched every sector?" he demanded.

"Yes, Lord Megatron," Scorponok replied. "There's no sign of them."

"They have to be somewhere," their leader stated. "You just haven't been looking hard enough. Tarantulas, have you had any luck finding Dinobot's signal?"

"None," the spider said. "Not even a blip, it's like he dropped off the radar. In fact, I haven't detected any Maximal signatures around vector Delta 9."

Megatron seemed to think this over for a minute. "I see. I want all of you to search vector's Delta 8, 9, and 10. Focus on those only, and if you see anything strange report at once." He turned away from them and brushed the teeth of his T-rex arm. "I have a feeling we will find the girl and the traitor there. Along with some other interesting items…"

~*~

Maximal Base.

"Yo Boss-monkey!" Rattrap called out as he read the scanners.

"What is it?" Primal inquired.

"We've got some serious Pred movement in vectors Beta 5, 6, and 7," he pointed to all of the blips scattering to cover them. "It looks like their havin' a party and we weren't invited." They observed the signals and suddenly two of them appeared to simply disappear. "What the?"

"What happened?" Optimus asked.

"It looks like they just disappeared," the rat answered trying to see if there were any problems with Sentinel, but there were none.

"They couldn't drop off the radar like that, and I doubt both of them went offline at the exact same moment," their leader pondered. "What sector were they last in?"

"It looks like they were headin' inta sector Beta 6, Fearless leader," Rattrap stated.

"Then so are we," Primal told the others. "Alert Cheetor and Rhinox to change course to that sector. I wanna know why we can't see them and what the Predacons are up to."

~*~

Back with Eri and Dinobot.

He looked up to the sky and noticed the sun was going down. It would be dark within half an hour. "We will remain here for the night," he told her.

"What, n-next to the rock?" she questioned. The thing was starting to give her the creeps.

"No, we will stay a distance away from it," he didn't like the look of it and couldn't explain it. They ended up staying about ten yards from the wall in some brush. Eri wasn't allowed to start a fire because it might be seen by the Preds. So, she just had to huddle up and bear with the cold as night settled in. It didn't help she had on knee pants and her hoodie had no sleeves. She tried to sleep but her teeth chattered and she couldn't stop shaking as the night went on. So she laid there on the cold ground in misery.

Dinobot knew she was cold. He could hear her teeth clank together and see her shaking for warmth. She needed a fire but he couldn't compromise their position. He didn't know the limits of the human body but he knew she was exceedingly fragile compared to him. The cold air was nothing but an annoyance to him, but it could be deadly to her. He snarled under his breath. The raptor did not come this far with her to lose her to the blasted elements.

He knew he would regret it if he didn't do something, though he preferred not to. Slowly, he got up and went over to her shivering form. She must've been asleep because she didn't open her eyes or appear to notice his presence as he sat down next to her. He mentally sighed as he scooted closer to her so she was resting against his side and he wrapped his tail around her.

Soon enough her shivering stopped as she absorbed the heat radiating off of him. He heard her sigh in her sleep and snuggle closer to him. He forced himself to stay still and not back away. Though he couldn't help but see how her tiny form fit almost perfectly in his protective circle against the night air. He wrote it off and rested his own head as he got some critical recharge of his own.

Eri was halfway between consciousness and unconsciousness. One second she was asleep and the next her shacking jolted her awake. She heard Dinobot get up but her foggy mind didn't register that as odd until he laid down next to her. She almost panicked when he rested against her but she kept herself still. Not too long after that she found she wasn't cold anymore. Before she could stop herself she actually snuggled into his side and sighed contentedly.

For a moment she was horrified and felt him tense. She thought he would move away but instead he stayed and she heard him lay his head down somewhere in front of her. Eri waited a few minutes before she chanced opening one of her eyes for a split second. When she did she found the raptor fast asleep. She couldn't help but smile a little. He looked less threatening when he was resting and he obviously cared about her, otherwise he would have let her freeze. _You act all tough but you're not that mean or bad Dinobot. Goodnight._

~*~

"Eri…" the same mysterious voice called out to her. She felt as if her limbs weighed a hundred pounds and her head throbbed but she managed to sit up. When she did she was in the same room and wearing the same outfit from her dream the other night.

"Precious… Treasure…" the voice continued. "Come to us little one."

She tried to get off the table and succeeded. But when she tried to stand up her legs gave out and she fell to the white floor. Eri's vision blurred and her headache got worse. "Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want from me?"

"We are here to help you… Come to us, Eri," now it sounded like there were multiple voices speaking at once. She couldn't tell where they came from because they sounded like they were all around her.

"What about everyone else?" _Could she really leave the guys like that?_

"They mean nothing to us… You are the one we need…" the voices answered. "We are not far away… Simply follow our voices…"

"But the Maximals…" her vision swam and she felt herself fighting off sleep.

"Precious Treasure," they called. "Eri…"

She tried to get up again but it felt like something was forcing her to lay there. "Rattrap, Cheetor," she gently called out for her friends. "Rhinox, Optimus…"

"Eri," the voices were relentless and she could barely think.

"Dinobot," she said as her vision went black.

"Eri…"

"NO!" she yelled jolting awake.

"By the pit!" Dinobot yelled as her scream woke him. "What is it?"

Eri caught her breath for a moment and looked down at herself. She reassured herself it had only been a dream. Nothing more. _Than why have I had the same one every night since coming here?_

"Human," Dinobot growled. "What in the inferno is the meaning of waking me up with your screaming? By the way you called out I thought Terrorsaur had you again."

She looked at him for a moment before she fully understood his words and knew what he meant. "It was just a dream, girl. Get over it," she internally told herself. "S-sorry Dinobot. I h-had a nigh…nightmare."

He snarled but didn't comment on the matter. Her eyes shown with fear and whatever she had been dreaming about had her nearly trembling. "Whatever," he finally grumbled. "It is daylight," he started walking. "If we keep a decent pace we will reach the base before dark." Eri appreciated how he didn't press her about the dream and followed him into the jungle with her makeshift spear.

~*~

A couple hours later.

"Tarantulas to Megatron," the spider commend their leader.

"What is it?" he replied.

"I believe I've found something that might interest you," he stood in front of the wall with the strange marking on it.

~*~

The Maximals.

"Any sign?" Optimus asked the others. Most of them replied with nothing to report but Rattrap quickly called him back.

"Fearless leader, I think I got somethin'."

"What is it?"

"I've got Dinobutt's and Stargirl's scent."

"Comm the others and tell them to meet up at your location."

~*~

Back with Dinobot and Eri.

They fought their way through some particularly thick brush and Eri pulled her hair off a branch. They hadn't talked since that morning and the silence weighed on her a little. "Dinobot?" she ventured as they got clear.

"What now human?"

"M-my name's Eri by the w-way," she said. He seemed to ignore that so she went on. "I w-wanted to thank you for l-last night."

"Nothing occurred last night," he stated and it surprised her.

"B-but," she tried.

"Nothing happened last night," he gave her a look like 'tell anyone and I'll rip your throat out'. _That's it._

She stopped and glared at him. "You don't h-have to be so mean!" she burst out. "I'm j-just trying to thank y…you and you're acting l-like a jerk."

"Excuse me," he stopped and turned around.

"Y-you heard me," she went on. "I don't k-know what y-you have ag…against me but I-I'm tired of it."

"You would be dead if not for me human," he countered.

"M-maybe but I am sick of y-you treating me like I-I'm just this burden. The others treat me ni-nice! Why can't y-you at le-least be civil?"

"Perhaps because you have been nothing but a hindrance since you appeared," he finally snapped at her. "You are the easiest target for the Predacons to use against us. For the love of the inferno you were already captured by them once. The next time we might not be so lucky." She was shocked by his anger and didn't have time to reply as he went on. "We have already been injured trying to save you when you stupidly decided to go off on your own. How long before we are offlined attempting to protect you? I should have left you there when you first ran into me."

They stood there in complete silence and Dinobot took in just what he had said to her. She didn't look angry or upset by what he said. If anything she appeared calm about the whole thing and understanding. She turned away from him and started walking in the opposite direction he had been going. "Human!" he called after her. "Where are you going?"

"You're right," she said and the sadness in her voice was clear. "About everything. I'm nothing but a nuisance. You'd all be better off without me in your lives," she turned back to face him and tears could be seen gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Sorry for bothering you. But you don't have to worry about me anymore," she continued walking and looked away. "Just tell the others you never found me. I won't tell."

"Human…" he began. But was interrupted by a familiar buzzing sound. They looked right above them and saw Waspinator. "Dinobot sure is mean to female fleshy-bot," he stated before he began blasting the raptor.

"Dinobot!" Eri called and shielded herself as pieces of brush came flying at her.

"Dinobot, Maximize!" he transformed and attempted to hold the flyer off with the lasers from his eyes. "Hide!" he instructed her.

She stayed where she was for a moment and then nodded before bolting for all she was worth. But she had no intention of doing what the raptor had instructed her. Instead, she planned to keep going for as long as her legs would carry her. Images and voices flashed through her brain as she relived horrible memories. "She's so stupid."

_"I know, I can't believe the Tsukika's adopted her."_

_"What makes her so special?"_

_"She can't even talk right."_

_"Ryo only hangs out with you because he feels sorry for you."_

_"You're nothing but an embarrassment to this family."_

_"Mama and Baba only got you as a publicity stunt. You're nothing but an expensive toy. Well, I'm done messing with you. Wonder if they'll even bother keeping you around."_

_"How dare you show your brother up! Do you have any idea how this makes him look? Well, do you stupid good for nothing girl?!"_

_"I should have left you there when you first ran into me."_ Eri didn't notice but her breath caught as she ran and tears streaked down her cheeks. They were right, all of them. What good was she to anyone? All she did was get in the way. She didn't belong anywhere.

She tripped over a root and fell to her knees in the dirt. Her spear broke on impact and the yo-yo came off the end. Eri continued to cry as she sat there and couldn't find the strength to get back up. She grabbed the toy and held it. What was the point? She should just stay there in the dirt and let the Predacons find her. _"Now is that anyway to talk?"_ a friendly voice asked her internally.

"Haruko?" she questioned the air. Other memories came rushing back at her. _"Eri, people are always gonna be hating. Let them hate, one day it'll consume them and they'll be nothing but shriveled up husks who only feel misery as they decay and eventually die all alone."_ Eri whipped the tears away and regained her breath. _"Just ignore them, or better yet piss them off even more by continuing to be yourself. Just worry about making yourself proud and happy, don't worry about them. Now come on…"_ Eri got to her feet and recalled some other details as she wound up the yo-yo. _"Just know this, that if the world looks like it's crumbling around you and you have nowhere to turn, I'll be there. You can always count on me, girl. One day I hope you can call on others to be there for you too, and you likewise for them. But always remember this cous, I love you and will always be there to help you back up if the world knocks you down."_ "You don't know how right you are Haru," she said to the air as she put the toy in her pocket. She turned back to where she had come. She'd go back and make sure Dinobot was ok. Before they went back to the rest of the Maximals.

But before she could even take a step she heard something. Nothing else in the vicinity was disturbed by it because it was specifically tuned to a frequency only humans could hear. Her normally bright eyes glossed over, like she was blind. A creepily peaceful smile spread across her face as she turned toward the source. "What is that wonderful sound?" she spoke in a monotone manner that would have disturbed anyone who heard it. So, Eri Tsukika, without her knowledge or true consent began making her way toward the source. And whoever had manufactured it.


	12. What Is Happening?

Waspinator lost track of Eri as he avoided Dinobot's eye lasers. He didn't want to fire too much and risk hitting her wherever she may be. Megatron would have his wings if she was hurt. Besides, he liked the small fleshy femme, she was nice to him. "Waspinator to Megatron!" he commend.

"What is it?" was the reply.

"Waspinator has found female fleshy-bot and raptor-bot," he answered barely dodging in midair. "They are in sector Delta 9!"

"Have you retrieved the girl?"

"Waspinator is trying," he stated. Two seconds later he had to duck or be hit by a missile. "What the?" He turned to see Optimus Primal flying right at him, below were the rest of the Maximal's. And they looked ready to transform. "Waspinator needs backup! The rest of the Maximals are here."

"Very well. Hold them off until we arrive." Waspinator didn't have time to reply as a barrage of shots and missiles came at him. He transformed and buzzed away as quickly as possible for fear of keeping himself in one piece. "Why is Waspinator always the distraction?"

Optimus landed with the others as they joined Dinobot. "Dinobot, glad to see you're alright," the leader stated.

"Yeah, nice to see you didn't get scraped," Rattrap added glancing around. "Now where's Stargirl?"

"She should be around here somewhere," the raptor replied and didn't look at any of them in the eye.

"You mean you lost her?!" the cat exclaimed.

"I did not lose her fur-ball," he they all transformed back as the energon got to them. "I was engaged and told her to hide."

"Eri!" Cheetor called out.

"Little lady, where are ya?" the rat joined in. They searched around for about five minutes but found no sign of her. "Hea, over here!" Rattrap finally called out noticing some brush trampled. "I got her scent."

"But why did she run so far off?" Cheetor asked. "She wouldn't just leave Dinobot like that. Eri stuck by me when I got blasted by Scorponok."

"You got a point kid," the rat conceded. "And she faced down the eight-legged freak when she coulda ditched me." Something didn't sit right in his processor. "She's not one to run away, especially if Dinobutt here only faced off against Waspinator. Unless you said something to her, Chopperface!" he accused.

They turned to look at him but he merely avoided their gaze. "Dinobot?" Primal inquired.

He snarled but finally relented. "I may have told her she was nothing but a hindrance to us."

"Dinobot!" the cat growled.

"Of all the things…" Rattrap was so angry he was at a loss for words. "When we find Stargirl I'll rip out your glossa and give it to her as a gift you piece of scrap."

Rhinox shook his head. "Eri already thought she was a bother, and that couldn't have helped. From the look of it she ran in the opposite direction from the base."

Primal let out an enormous sigh. "She probably thought she could lead the Predacons away from us." The cat and rat made sounds of disgust and made a move toward the raptor. He grabbed the both of them and pulled them back. "This isn't helping," he scolded. "Our first priority is finding Eri. We'll settle all of this once she's safe at the base. Agreed?" The others still gave Dinobot disappointed looks but nodded.

It wasn't long before they got a clue. Her broken makeshift spear laid in the mud and they noticed her footprints leading off somewhere. "It looks like she stumbled here," Primal said and saw something was off about the tracks after that. "Hm."

"What is it Big-bot?" the youngest bot asked.

"Don't these tracks look odd to you?" he replied.

"Yeah," the rat smelled them for emphasis. "It looks like she's stumbling from here. But it doesn't look like she's hurt."

"It looks like she's being dragged," Rhinox spoke up.

"But there aren't any other tracks around here," the cat pointed out. "Who could've taken her? Terrorsaur?"

"No, I would've smelt him," the rat pointed out.

"Then who?"

"There's only one way to find out," their leader said as they followed her footprints.

~*~

In an unknown location.

Eri's feet finally found their way out of the jungle and onto a stone pathway. She stopped and peered up at the monument before her. "Where…" she began but was silenced by another voice.

"Eri…" it called sweetly to her. "We are here child, come to us…" Whoever it was sounded warm and welcoming. That eerie smile returned to her face as she started walking again.

"I'm coming," she called back.

~*~

With the Predacons.

"What do you mean you lost them?" Megatron berated the wasp once they had congregated together.

"Waspinator had to leave, or the Maximals would've blown Waspinator to bits!" he exclaimed.

The purple T-rex mumbled something under his breath and everyone waited for him to erupt in an angry outburst. But it never came. "No matter. We will find the Maximals soon enough and the human." As he began leading them through the jungle they couldn't help but feel unsettled by the evil chuckle he let out.

~*~

Back with the Maximals.

"What in the pit is this?" Rattrap indicated a stone wall in front of them with a marking on it.

"Dinobot?" Optimus noticed the raptor staring at it with an odd look.

"When I was with the girl we encountered one similar to this," he indicated the wall. "It had the same marking on it. She said it was called 'Sumarian' and the symbol meant 'be gone'."

"You mean Eri can read this?" the cat asked.

"Optimus," Rhinox said. "Doesn't this remind you of something?"

"The standing stones?" the ape replied. "Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if they were built by the same designers."

"This alternates my currents," the rat spoke up. "Whoever made this could have the little lady and we have no idea what they want with her. Or could be doin' to her."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" the cat urged.

~*~

With Eri.

"Hello?" she called as she traveled down the various twisting hallways. She ignored the markings and other strange items there in favor for finding whoever was calling her.

"Precious Treasure," the voice practically sang. "Just a little further child…"

"I'm almost there," she answered.

"That's it…" it continued. "Come to us… Then all of your pain will go away." Eri turned another corridor and saw a white light emanating at the end. Her smile grew bigger as the voice was joined by others and they became louder. "All of it will go away…"

~*~

With the Maximals.

"By Primus," Primal said as they stared at an enormous pyramid like structure. It seemed to erupt from the jungle itself. There were similar markings to the one on the outward walls they encountered. The stone pyramid appeared to be the size of their own base, if not bigger.

"What is this place?" Cheetor asked.

"No idea," Rhinox answered. "But someone took a lot of time to make it. And if Eri was right they didn't want anyone trespassing."

"As much as I hate to say this, way gotta go in there," the rat announced.

"Shouldn't you be telling us we should avoid this place?" the cat questioned as they all looked at him.

"Normally yeah, pussycat," he explained. "But Stargirl's scent goes right into that joint. And I won't just leave her there to face Primus knows what."

~*~

Eri.

She sat down on a pure white table, smiling all the while. This place reminded her of the feeling of sleeping in late and letting the sunlight wash over her through the window. Eri yawned as she felt her eyes trying to close. "Eri…" the voices called out again. "It is alright little one. You are safe now…"

Something poked at the back of her foggy mind. She couldn't quite remember it but it wouldn't leave her alone. And she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep until she recalled it. Oh, that was right! "What about Dinobot? Won't the others be worried about me?"

"Do not worry about them," a white blanket was placed over her by someone she couldn't see. She felt herself slowly sliding back on the table so she could lay down. "They will bother you no more…"

"But…"

"Precious Treasure," they reassured her. "You are tired… Sleep…" Eri felt all of her strength leave her and her eyes finally closed. It was so warm and comfy here. Maybe she could take a little nap. "You will never see them again..."

~*~

The Maximals.

They followed Rattrap's nose seeing as the stone left no sign of any tracks. Lucky for them her scent was so strong and the rat's nose was as sharp as ever. They all stopped as they turned a corner and saw something lying on the floor. The rat went over and picked it up. "What is it?" Rhinox was the first to ask.

"Isn't that Eri's yo-yo?" Cheetor inquired. Although he tried to cover it up dread seeped through. "But she doesn't go anywhere without it."

"Maybe she lost it," the rat attempted to actually be optimistic. None of them wanted to imagine what might have happened to their sweet little lady. "Bet she'll be happy when we give it back…"

"Yeah," Cheetor somehow managed to get out.

A few minutes and a couple corridors later they found something even more horrifying. It made all of their processors nearly glitch and terror froze their sparks. Optimus was the one to lift up Eri's clothes off the floor. They weren't folded but strewn into a pile in a corner. They didn't know much about humans but Eri never ran around without clothes on. If she had to wash them she put on her gym clothes for the day and vice versa. Besides, Eri always folded her things neatly. Seeing as this was the only outfit she had on…

"Stargirl?" the rat spoke up.

"W-what happened to Eri?" Cheetor questioned but none of them had any semblance of an answer. Instead, their imaginations ran wild as they imagined the worst befalling the small quiet girl.

~*~

Outside.

"See?" Megatron gloated to his followers. "I told you the Maximals would lead the way."

"But what about the human?" the spider asked.

"Something tells me she's already inside. We'll find her soon enough," he chuckled. "And when we do I'll be able to complete my plan."

"What plan, Lord Megatron?" his second inquired.

"You'll see shortly," was the only answer. The rest of the Pred just gave each other very confused looks.


	13. Ark

"ERI!" Cheetor yelled down the corridors. "Where are you?!"

"Shhh," Rattrap said looking around. "We don't want whoever has her to know where here, spots. So keep it down."

"Why?" the cat countered. "How else will Eri know we're here to save her?"

"Both of you have a point," Primal reasoned. "But we have no idea what we're up against. So for now we'll look for Eri, quietly." He started down the hallway. "Stick together and keep your optics open."

~*~

Elsewhere.

"Eri…" a soft voice called. She felt like she recognized that voice. "Hey Stargirl!" another added. _Rattrap?_ "ERI!" _Cheetor?_ "Where are you?" _Rhinox too?_ "If you can hear us show us a sign." _Optimus? What are they doing here? Wait, where is here?_ Her head hurt and she barely opened her eyes to blinding light.

"Go back to sleep," the other voices told her. No, something wasn't right. She put a hand in front of her eyes to protect them as she managed to sit up.

"Guys?" her voice came out a bit horse as she peered around the room and tossed the white blanket off of her. She glanced down and noticed she wasn't wearing her usual clothing. Instead, she wore a long sleeved shirt. The majority of it was a light purple but the outer edges were aquamarine with purple Sumerian symbols. The shirt stopped short of her knees but she also had on matching boots that came up about an inch short of her knees. Thank goodness she had on some sort of panties and a bra. But who had changed her outfit and why? There was no one she could see in the room with her. "Where are you?" she tried.

"Shhh," the mysterious voices cooed. "You are tired and should rest little one. They will not bother you here anymore…"

"They're not bothering me," she struggled but managed to swing her legs over the side of the table. "They're my friends."

"You don't need friends…" Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton and her head pounded relentlessly. "All they have done is hurt you…" She remembered how Dinobot had yelled at her but that didn't matter. If they were looking for her it meant they were worried. Eri attempted to stand but her legs gave out on her and she tumbled to the floor.

"Eri…" the voices continued. "Precious Treasure…"

"Stop it," she grabbed her head. "What do you want with me?"

"To help you…"

"Then let me go," she replied.

"You do not belong here…" they answered. "This is not your time…"

"I know that but…" her vision started swimming.

"But what? Stay with us little one…" They said all around her. "We will take care of you…"

It would have been so easy to listen to them. To stay in that room and be cared for forever. But… That wasn't what Eri wanted. She liked the Maximals and wanted to see them again. She cared deeply for all of them, even Dinobot although he didn't like her at all. They had risked their lives to protect her and take care of her. They were her real friends. "Precious Treasure…" the torturous voices continued.

She thought back to all of them. Optimus, Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap, and even Dinobot. What would they do if she never came back? They were there somewhere searching for her. All she had to do was get to them and get the hell out of there… But no matter how hard she tried her stupid limbs wouldn't listen to her commands. _Get up. Get up!_ "Stay with us."

"Shut up already!" she countered gripping the table for support. _Come on!_ "Come on Eri," her cousin's voice rang loud and clear in her ear. Like Haruko was standing right next to her. All of the other voices seemed to vanish as she focused on this one. "You can do it!" Slowly, she managed to pull herself to her feet and stand up. "That's it. Now let's get you out of here."

With that Eri let go of the table and took a few tentative steps forward. "No!" the other voices called to her. "Stay here, where it is safe!" But she only listened to one. "Run Eri!" her cousin said. "What are you waiting for? Get the hell outta dodge!" With that last piece of encouragement Eri's next steps had her moving at a full out sprint as she ran from the white room and the strange voices.

She found the end of the white room and stumbled into a corridor. Where are they? "Eri…" the voices called after her. Oh screw it! Eri just went straight down a hallway and kept going with everything she had. She'd find the boys later; right now she had to get away from those creepy voices. "Precious Treasure…" _Don't these guys ever give up?_

~*~

With the Maximal's.

"What was that?" Primal asked as they heard something.

"Can't tell," Rhinox said. "But whatever it is it's coming this way."

"Maximals, Maximize," Optimus commanded and everyone did as he said. They had their weapons trained on the end of the corridor as the noise grew closer. Two seconds later a blur went past and they fought their instincts to open fire.

"Wait!" Primal told them.

"Stargirl?!" the rat shouted.

"Eri!" Cheetor called out to her.

A moment later she came back and slid to a stop as she looked at them. She was breathing a little heavy from nonstop running and they couldn't help but notice her strange clothes. Eri gapped at them for a moment, like she couldn't believe her luck. Then she fought back tears of relief as she realized they were really standing right in front of her. "Guys!" she yelled running at them. She latched onto Rattrap because he was the closest one and she buried her face in his chestplate. "I'm so happy to see you!" she gasped as tears slid down her face. "I was so scared," she admitted.

"It's alright, little lady," Rattrap patted her head gently. "We got ya now."

"Are you ok?" the cat asked. She nodded and then gave him a hug out of sheer joy.

"Thanks for coming," she told them.

"We'd never leave you behind Eri," Primal smiled at her. "I believe these are yours?" he handed her the clothes they found earlier. Seeing as she didn't have anything to put them in Rattrap put them in one of the storage spaces he had.

"Thanks," she composed herself.

"What happened?" Rhinox asked indicating her new outfit.

"I have no clue. All I remember is hearing these voices calling out to me. The next thing I know I woke up on a table with this on." She glanced nervously around. "We should get out of here. They might be following me."

As if they heard her all of them heard "Precious Treasure," echoing down the hallways.

"It's them!" she latched onto the cat for protection.

"Don't worry Eri," Cheetor reassured her. "They'll have to get through me first!"

"Let's move Maximals," Primal instructed. He indicated a side hallway and the others followed his lead. He went first, followed by Rattrap and Dinobot, then Cheetor with Eri, while Rhinox brought up the rear.

~*~

A short time later.

It seemed they weren't any closer to finding an exit as they made their way through the labyrinth like structure. All of them were on guard and made sure to keep a protective circle around Eri at all times. She stuck close to the cat and kept listening for the owners of those eerie voices. Now all they did was give her goosebumps instead of false comfort. But as they went along they kept seeing different symbols on the walls. Unfortunately, Eri wasn't able to identify what many of them meant. Until they came to a particular corridor.

"Wait!" she told them. "I know that one."

"What's it mean, Stargirl?" the rat asked.

"I think it means 'collect'," she stepped closer to Cheetor. They continued at a slower pace and kept an eye out. The symbols meaning was soon understood when they went down that hallway. On either side were rooms, with what appeared to be glass, or the closest thing Eri could think it to be, sides so you could look in. It reminded her of a zoo. In every separate compartment were two of different animals. They saw two cheetahs, two gorillas, two wolves, two snakes, two hawks, and the list continued as they kept going.

"What is this place?" the cat asked. There was a symbol next to each compartment illustrating what animals were being held.

"I thought my circuits were tingling from this joint," the rat added.

"I-it looks like a z-zoo," Eri put in.

"But who could do this?" the Rhino asked as they came to the end of the corridor. "And more importantly why?"

"We may just find out," Optimus pointed to a door. It was fairly big and had one symbol on the front. "Eri, do you know what it means?"

"Well," she looked at it closely. "That symbol has two meanings. The first is its saying 'future' or…"

"Or what?" the ape inquired.

"Destruction," she answered glancing nervously at all of them.

"Isn't that just Prime," their leader stated as they all looked to the door. They knew one way or the other they were going to find out what that place really was and how to get out. So, they all hung back as Optimus went to the door. There wasn't a panel or knob for him. Cautiously he touched the symbol. For a second it didn't do anything but then it lit up a dark red. Then the door slid silently open. Optimus looked in and motioned it was safe for the others and they all went inside.

The closest thing Eri could compare it to was a video surveillance room from all those CIA and spy movies. The room itself was round with panels all over it. Above them were screens with views of certain locations around the structure. But what was really amazing was the structure jutting up in the middle. It appeared to have contained something at one point but was now empty. When they looked up they noticed there wasn't really a conventional ceiling but see through panels, like the roof was one big skylight. The place must've been five times bigger than the control room in the Maximal base. And when Eri got closer to the structure in the middle she saw they stood almost on a grid and there was a lower level to the room. Though she had no idea how anyone would get down there seeing as there were no stairs or an elevator.

"What is this place?" Cheetor asked. No one really seemed to have an answer. Eri got closer to one of the video screens and noticed it was keeping an eye on the animals.

"I-if I didn't know better…" she began but trailed off not really wanting to believe it.

"Go on," Primal encouraged seeing as no one else had any ideas.

"Well, it's not really like a zoo. But it's not like a lab either. Maybe it's because we-we're not seeing the entire thing b-but if I had to guess. T-this place is like an ark."

"Oh how right you are my dear," a voice said behind them.


	14. Precious Treasure

Eri's eyes nearly tripled in size as she turned around to be met with a terrifying sight. All of the Predacons were behind her and had their weapons at the ready. Before anyone could react the Preds fired and effectively disarmed all of the Maximals. _Oh shit. Of all the places to run into these guys!_

"Megatron!" Optimus said. "What the in name of Primus are you doing here?"

"I'll tell you shortly Primal," he growled. Eri tried to step away from them toward the Maximals but he saw what she was doing. "No, no, no my dear," he grabbed the back of her shirt with his T-rex arm.

"Eri!" Cheetor said and the others took defensive positions.

"Let her go Megatron," Primal stated taking a step forward. "She's not a part of this!"

"Oh," he motioned and his minions trained their weapons on the ape. "I beg to differ," he changed his grip so the teeth of the arm were now around her neck. She nervously gulped as he applied a little pressure. It felt like knives surrounded her throat. "You see she's the key to all of this," he gestured.

"What do you mean?" Optimus scowled.

"Isn't it obvious?" the tyrant continued. "Why do you think she was brought here to begin with? Why was it she was able to locate this place when none of us could?" He pulled on her a little as he gestured and she was forced to follow his arm. "Judging by her unusual attire I'm willing to bet she has already met with the creators of this machine. Yes…" he smirked at them.

"I-it doesn't m-matter," Eri spoke up. "I don't k-know how to work a-any of this… And even i-if I could I'd n-n-never help you!"

He merely chuckled. "Oh I do believe you will, human," he gestured and the Preds moved even closer to the Maximals. "Or your little Maximal friends will offline, one by one, in front of you." He pointed to Rattrap. "I think we'll start with the rat, yessss." Eri watched in horror as the spider gripped Rattrap's shoulder and pushed him forward. He then pointed his weapon right at the back of the rat's head.

"No!" Eri fought Megatron's grip and felt the teeth tear a bit into her flesh. "Leave him alone!"

"Don't listen to 'em Star-" the rat was cut off as the spider bashed him in the back of the head.

"I-I'll do whatever y-you want," Eri said. "Just l-leave them alone."

"See?" Megatron tauned. "That wasn't so hard." He let up his grip a little and started to lead her toward the center of the room.

"Eri," Rhinox stated. "Don't worry about us."

"You don't know what this place could do to you," Primal finished.

"Well, it's not like I h-have a choice," she replied. "I-if you guys have any i-ideas I'd be gl-glad to hear them."

"Now it's time to see what this place can really do," Megatron lifted Eri up and put her in the center of the machine in the middle in the room. Right where a piece seemed to be missing. To her, and almost everyone's surprise, as soon as he placed her there a chair almost seemed to form out of nowhere for her to sit on. When it did two chainlike things wrapped around her wrists and held her in place. She didn't fight it considering it wouldn't do her any good. Another wrapped around her neck and held her head still.

The screens around her started to flicker and it appeared like the symbols on her clothes were glowing in the light. A blue light came down from the part of the machine above her and completely covered her in it. She felt a tingling sensation and could have sworn she heard those voices from earlier calling out to her again. It gave her a headache and she started saying things not in her voice. Eri felt like she was being used like a puppet. "Access granted," it sounded like multiple people were talking through her at once. She couldn't even hear herself think. "Power-up sequence commencing. Time period to be selected. Select time period and species to be recovered."

The Maximal's were stunned at what was happening to their friend, and equally horrified. It looked like she was trying to fight whatever was speaking through her and losing. The Predacons were simply shocked while Megatron grinned victoriously. "Yess," he started. "Tell me, Eri," he knew her real name. "What time are you from?"

"Time period selected," she heard the voices say. "Time 2013, select place and desired species."

"Interesting," the tyrant walked around the machine and kept an eye on her. "It appears the machine can tap directly into your conscious mind to answer my questions. It must be painful for you."

"Assumption correct," was the answer. "Subject's mind can be used for reference purposes. Subject has no neural or motor control. The human is used as an intermediary for information input, extraction, and retrieval."

"Well, that is convenient. Where are you from then?" he smirked as images of New York City appeared on the screens around them.

"Destination New York City, input desired species to excerpt," she found her body saying against her will.

"Hm, I don't wish to extract any humans. One of you is enough. What other functions is this structure capable of?" he asked her.

Eri saw the answer before she said it. It flashed through her mind like she was watching T.V. And it made her stomach twist. She couldn't tell Megatron and the rest of the Preds that! She tried to drown out the voices and tell them to stop as she heard them blurt out the information. "The extraction of species and observation of their behavior, along with the gathering of all biological and ecological information is first priority." There was a pause before the voices continued. "Secondary functions include… Include… Include…" the voices started to repeat.

"What is happening?" he demanded.

"The connection is be-being disru… disrupted," was the answer and the screens started to flicker back to mere images of the animals in their holding cells. "Sub-subject is resisting data transfer. Infor-information requested retriev-retrieval un-unsuccessful. Re-re-reboot re…required."

All of them looked on as Eri moved her head. She blinked her eyes a few times and looked directly at Megatron. "N-not on m-my life," she croaked out in her own voice.

"It seems you have forgotten your place human," he snarled at her. "Or did you forget I'm the one holding all of the cards?"

"H-hurt any of them," she managed. "And you'll never get y-your answers." It looked like she was struggling as the blue light increased and her body started to shake. "Re-reboot sequence in-in-initiated," the voices returned. "St-st-stand by…"

"It doesn't look like you'll have a choice girl," Megatron told her. By the strained look on her face it appeared he was right and sweat dotted her forehead. She fought the restraints to no avail. Whatever she was fighting, it seemed like she was losing the war. The Maximals were pretty sure she wouldn't be able to do that again. And if she couldn't then what would happen to her? And what had she been trying to hide from Megatron that was so important? Eri glanced over at them; in her mind she was stealing up and using them to enforce her motive to battle the voices. For them, they saw the look of determination in her eyes and pleading.

No one could have guessed what happened next. All of the Preds were focused on Eri and the raptor used that to his advantage. He let out a snarl and wacked Waspinator and Scorponok a good one as he charged forward. He used his eye lasers to shoot Megatron and make room for him as he bolted and snatched Eri in one moment. Lucky for the both of them as soon as he did the chair released her and she went tumbling to the floor on the other side of the machine with him. Unfortunately, Terrorsaur and Tarantulas got a shot at him and hit him in the back.

So once he landed he didn't exactly bound back up but Eri sort of had to support him as they used the machine for cover. "Are you insane?!" she asked him looking at his injuries. He was hunched over and sort of cradled her so she didn't bang off the floor.

"No," he replied. "Simply righting a wrong…" he slumped over and she barely managed to keep him from hitting the floor as she got to her own feet.

"Dinobot?!" she screamed. "Dinobot, come on! We gotta move."

By now the Preds had recovered and the spider and pterodactyl had managed to keep the other Maximals in their spots. Megatron and the other two recovered and got back up. Eri stood there and looked on as she stood there with Dinobot helplessly. He saved me.

The Predacon leader grumbled before he spoke again. "Crafty Dinobot I'll give you that. But it's to no avail. That girl and this machine will be mine! And you, you traitorous scum!" he moved toward them and Eri knew this was it. "I'll dissect you and all of your precious Maximal comrades right in front of her." _This can't be happening._ He took another step and Eri's heart beat a million miles an hour. _It can't end like this._ Eri looked to the rest of the Maximals. She couldn't let this happen. Then, Optimus, Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap, and Dinobot… _They'll all die. No, they're my friends… I can't stand here and do nothing!_ At that moment an extremely vivid memory came to the forefront of her mind. _You can always count on me, girl. One day I hope you can call on others to be there for you too, and you likewise for them._ Her cousin's words rang loud and clear. It was true the Maximals were her friends, they'd die for her. Dinobot had freed her and nearly been killed. They had protected her numerous times while she just stood by and watched. She stared right at Megatron and she could've sworn time stood still for a moment as she took everything in at once.

Her sensei had once told her, many years ago, that shit was going to happen to her at some point or another in her life. Until then, she'd always just bore with it and kept her emotions to herself. But, this was different. Other lives besides hers were being threatened. Her friends were defenseless. In two seconds old instincts kicked in. She took in her surroundings, including where the Predacons stood, and judged the distance where she was to them.

Eri took in a deep breath and braced herself. "Dinobot," she whispered. "Prepare yourself." He glanced over to her in confusion but didn't let any of the Preds see his expression. But he was shocked by her fierce expression and how her eyes had narrowed at Megatron. A moment later hell broke loose. "Rattrap!" she yelled. "Yo-yo!"

Course everyone was caught off guard by her outburst but the rat reacted without a second thought. He popped the toy out of the compartment and threw it to her. She caught it without any trouble and let go of Dinobot. What happened next would forever change how everyone saw little Eri Tsukika.


	15. Choice

The first thing she did was plant a good jump sidekick right in Megatron's stomach plating. It actually made him grunt and go flying backwards into Waspinator and Terrorsaur. Eri took the free moment to put the yo-yo string on her finger. She let the toy slid down the string and fling around in the air. The spider made a move to grab her but she dodged and waked him right in the head with the yo-yo. She caught it coming back and did a cartwheel over to Scorponok who stood there in utter surprise.

He almost got his missiles pointed at her but she did an outside crescent kick and knocked his pincher harmlessly away from her. Then Eri gave him a good uppercut right under his chinplate and sent him crashing to the floor. "What are you idiots waiting for?!" Megatron snarled getting back to his pedes and so did his other minions besides the scorpion who was down and out. "Get her!"

Eri saw the wasp keeping the Maximals in check out of the corner of her eye. She'd get to him later. She took a fighting stance and motioned for them to bring it. Terrorsaur went to point his gun at her but Megatron grabbed it and growled at him. "Take her alive, you fools! She's no good to us dead."

The flyer came at her first, or course. She blocked his hand and swung the yo-yo around his arm to keep it trapped there. With her other hand she palm-heeled him right in the face, then grabbed the back of his helm. Next, she pulled his helm down and brought her knee up. Effectively, everyone heard the 'clang' as his helm smashed off her knee and he let out a high pitched squawk before he slumped down. She managed to unwind the string from his arm and it wrapped around her leg as she saw the spider coming at her. The string swung back around and effectively clonked him again in the helm.

He stumbled but didn't go down this time. So she spun around and roundhouse kicked him in the other side of his helm, leaving a small dent. He finally went down but the next moment she was lifted off the floor by the back of the shirt. One guess who it was. "You've caused me enough problems human," he held her close enough to his face so she could clearly see his fury. _What an idiot._ "Now…" Before he could continue she brought her fists right into his face, multiple times. He grumbled as one of his perfect white teeth fell out.

"This is for all the shit you Predacons have put me through!" She front kicked him and he dropped her before he fell to his own knees. "And this is for threatening my friends!" she butterfly kicked him twice in the face. He couldn't even get a grunt out before he fell backward and lost another tooth. Eri stepped on him as she passed to get to her buds. "Jerk," she said and walked over to the stunned Maximals. Waspinator was the sole Predacon on his feet and looked between her and the Maximals.

"Waspinator does not want to hurt female-fleshy bot!" he told her.

Her face faltered and she genuinely looked apologetic. "And I don't want to hurt you either."

To her shock a metal fist appeared to come out of nowhere and hit the wasp directly in the side of his helm. Waspinator made a weird face and fell to the floor unconscious. Eri looked back and saw Rattrap standing there smirking. "Couldn't let you have all the fun little lady."

"Thanks," she told him and joined them as they began recollected their weapons and the injured Dinobot. "That was amazing!" Cheetor told her.

"I knew ya had it in ya," the rat patted her shoulder.

"You're just full of surprises," Optimus added.

"That was impressive," Rhinox commented. "But what were you trying to hide from the Predacons earlier? You even managed to retake control of yourself to stop them."

"Oh, that," she got an uneasy look on her face. "I'll go into detail later but it is not good news. No matter what we can't let them take control of this thing."

"That's not up to you meat-bag!" a harsh voice said behind them and they saw the Preds getting back up. The flyer let out a shot and it hit right where they had been standing. The Maximals got thrown back while Eri got tossed more to the other side. They all landed hard and Eri banged her head off the floor. The spider stood right over her with a smirk and pointed his weapon right at her. The rest of the Maximals glared at the Preds.

"This is nothing but a mere setback," Megatron stated swaying a little as he stood straight up. "Now if you Maximals don't immediately surrender and revert to beast mode I'll be forced to dispatch this human."

"That's slag and you know it!" Rhinox spoke up. "You need Eri alive to work this machine."

The tyrant let out a cackle. "Yes, but I believe humans have been known to loose limbs before and survive. I need her breathing, but other than that her condition matters little." He motioned for the spider to up the ante and he moved his weapon closer to her face. Eri didn't show any fear but noticed her yo-yo was lying unhelpfully on the other side of the machine. It must've been knocked out of her hand when she dodged that blast. "The more you make me wait the more body parts she loses. One," he began and the Maximals looked to one another and their leader. "Two…"

"Alright," Primal sighed. "We'll do as you ask. Maximals, beast mode." One by one all of them transformed back into their animals, even Dinobot who snarled when he did so.

Something caught Eri's eye and she saw her chance. Now all she needed was an opening. She glanced to her friends for any help. Optimus caught her gaze and slight nod. He didn't indicate any response but when he spoke she knew he had understood her. "What are you going to do with this?" he inquired of the Predacon leader. "You have no idea who built this or what they're intentions were! You may end up destroying us all." Rattrap caught Eri's glance next and picked up on what his leader was doing.

Unfortunately, the spider wasn't easily distracted by the banter. So instead, he cooked up an idea on the spot when he saw a glint near where Eri lay. It just so happened her yo-yo was by his little feet. "Hea!" he yelled to her. "Catch!" he used his tail to smack it into the air and it went flying at her. It had the desired effect. "Not this time mouse!" the spider used his free pincher to snag it.

"You imbecile!" Megatron scolded. "It's a diversion!"

But it was too late. Eri had her opening and she took it. She got to her feet and kicked the spider's out from under him. Then she slid across the floor and snatched up Rattrap's gun. She used the machine to shield her from some of the Preds while she pointed the weapon at Megatron. "That's enough!" Instead of intimidating him he chuckled at her. She was a little put off but kept it trained on him. The Maximals didn't like how he was reacting either. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"Oh you have spirit I'll give you that," he moved one of his hands to a compartment in his arm and pulled out something she couldn't see. "But I still hold all the leverage," he held up the sphere that had brought her there to begin with.

"Holy…" she began.

"Primus," Cheetor finished as the Maximals got their first good look at what had brought her to that world, the cause for all of this. And it was in Megatron's servo.

"H-how did you get that?" Eri asked.

"I found it shortly after I learned of your arrival," he explained waving it around a bit, like he was flaunting it. "I thought it was more than a coincidence you appeared at the exact same time as this. Then to my surprise you led me here," he gestured to the machine.

"Well you can forget it," she told him. "I'm not helping you!"

"But that's the beauty of it my dear, yesss," he twirled the sphere a bit. "With this little device in my possession I no longer need you."

"W-what?"

"That's right," he said. "This machine worked with you in it, but this little device brought you here. So I'm betting it has the same capabilities of this entire pyramid, perhaps more. I'll use this instead of you," he gestured to the opening and held the sphere there a moment. Instead of making a chair like it had done for her it appeared to contort around the sphere like it would easily hold it as well. But at the last moment he moved it away and the blue light disappeared. "Seeing as I'm in a good mood I'll make you a deal, girl."

Eri narrowed her eyes but waited for him to go on. "I'll use this to send you back home and you'll never have to see any of us again." She couldn't even say anything but he went on. "Think about it. I'll be rid of your irritating presence while you get to go back to your time and live out the rest of your life in peace." The Maximals didn't like where this was going. "You'll never have to see any of us again. Think of your family and friends. Surely they miss you." Eri's eyes shown a bit while she listened to him. "This isn't your war; you don't need to be involved in this. A sweet little thing like you. Take this opportunity, Eri."

"B-but the Maximals," she said quickly glancing over to her friends.

"Are none of your concern. After all, what have they done besides putting you in dangerous positions? I was told they've even insulted you," he indicated to Dinobot. "Why worry about them? Take care of yourself for once. All you have to do is say yes and you'll return home unharmed."

The Maximals and Predacons looked on as Eri stood there, as still as a statue. She didn't move the weapon but her face held worry. _Leave the Maximals? But I'd get to go home again. > "This is a limited time offer," Megatron told her. "So, dear Eri, what will it be? Home or the Maximals and this perilous war and world you do not belong in? I need an answer."_


	16. Welcome to the Beast Wars

Eri took it all in and stood her ground. Her grip on the gun shook a little but that was only because she'd never held one before. _There's no way he's telling the truth. Then why didn't he use it before and go to all the trouble of getting me? But, if he's not lying I could go home._ "Tick tock," Megatron said. "Times up, Eri. What is it going to be? Remaining here and probably dying or being turned into a guinea pig? Or you could go back to the safety and security of your home." He paused and waited for an answer. The entire room remained silent as they saw her expression become distant. Like she was considering things.

Then, she finally answered. "Megatron?" she said and acted like she was lowering the gun a bit.

"Yes, my dear?" he chuckled thinking she was going to comply.

She looked up at him and everyone saw the resolve in her eyes. The gun went back to where it had been and she stopped shaking. "Eat slag!" and she fired. The shot hit the sphere and it started glowing red instead of blue. It also jerked around in the tyrant's grasp and that wasn't the only thing. The entire building began to shack and the screens either cracked or sparks started flying out of them.

"You foolish girl!" he yelled as everyone fought to keep their balance and he let the ball go. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Oh, I know exactly what I've done," she replied giving him a death-glare.

He looked like he was going to fire at her before a missile hit him in the chestplate and knocked him over. She glanced over to see it had been Optimus. Him and the other Maximals had transformed and were keeping the rest of the Preds busy as Rattrap snatched her up. He held her in his arms and she gave him back his weapon. "It's gonna blow!" he called out.

"Maximals, retreat!" Primal told them. They all transformed back to beast mode and rat put her on Rhinox's back before he changed. The next second they bolted for all they were worth and attempted to find a way out. The Predacons were doing the same by retracing how they had entered the place.

As they went Eri noticed two regular cheetahs run past them. She also noted some other animals that had previously been in the holding cells were also making a break for it. They took a few more turns and finally saw the exit in sight. There was a giant cracking sound like thunder and the roof started falling in as they managed to get out of the opening. They kept going as the surrounding walls did the same as the foundation and the thundering sound grew louder.

Eri would have covered her ears but she was too busy holding onto Rhinox. They barely made it into the surrounding forest before there was a flash of blinding white light and they were all flung forward as the concussions caught up to them. Everyone was flung in different directions and had to take protective positions as the light came at them one last time. The next second the light appeared to shoot straight up into the air and out of sight. Taking the entire crumbling structure and outer perimeter with it. Though none of them could see it the light disappeared into a black hole in space before it closed. Leaving no trace besides a crater in the jungle that the pyramid had ever been there.

Once they recovered all of them got to their feet. "Uh," Cheetor grumbled.

"What in the name of my great-aunt Arcee was that?" Rattrap asked.

"Who knows," Rhinox asked. Then he noticed a certain human was no longer on his back. "Where's Eri?"

"Oh no, not again," the cat looked around frantically for her.

"Stargirl! Where are ya?" the rat called.

"Over here!" her voice answered. They looked over to see Dinobot walk over to them with her thrown over his back. She had landed on him in the explosion. "We're good," she told them as she managed to get off the raptor's back. "Is everyone alright?"

"Everyone seems to be in one piece," Optimus stated. "That was pretty brave what you did back there."

"You gave up your chance of going home for us?" the cat asked.

"Yeah," she replied without any hesitation. "You guys are my friends, your lives matter more to me than going home."

It was then they heard a familiar sound and about twenty yards away were all the Predacons. They appeared more torn up than the Maximals from the blast. "The day is yours human. But remember this, I never forgive a defeat. One day I will have my revenge," Megatron snarled at her.

"I'd like to see ya try," Cheetor growled and stood in front of her.

"If you want her," Optimus and the others made a protective wall in front of her. "Then you'll have to get through us." All of the Maximals growled or made threatening movements towards the battered Preds.

"Another day Primal," Megatron said and the Preds began limping or flying back to their base.

"Looks like you just joined us on Megatron's hit list," Rhinox commented.

"Yeah," she sighed. "But it was worth it to punch that jerk in the face."

"Getting back to earlier matters," Optimus brought up. "What was it you were trying to keep from the Predacons?"

Eri shivered remembering it. "When those voices were talking through me… I saw some things. When they referenced my mind for information it wasn't completely one way. In fact, it was kinda like a two way street. I couldn't discern everything at once but I got enough when Megatron asked what the place could do besides study animals." She paused and collected herself before continuing. "It was horrible. Besides being like an ark that could travel through time and collect specimens. It also had the ability to take whoever controlled the machine to whatever time and place they wanted. So they had the option of not only capturing species but obliterating them completely."

The Maximals looked to each other in shock. "And it gets worse," she continued. "When I said 'whatever place' I meant it. That pyramid could go beyond this planet to earth or cybertron."

"Are you tellin' me if Megs had gotten his hands on that thing he coulda' went back to cybertron and…" the rat started.

"Offlined every Maximal," Rhinox finished.

"I couldn't let that happen," she stated. "I couldn't imagine you guys being… Well you know. Let alone most of your planet."

"You saved us," Cheetor said.

"Not to mention all of the Maximals back home," the rhino added.

"Looks like cybertron owes ya one, little lady," the rat patted her on the back.

"And so do we," Optimus offered his hand to her.

She blushed but took it. "It was the right thing to do," she shrugged. "Besides, I know any of you guys would've done the same thing for me."

"Did you happen to find out who exactly built that thing to begin with?" the rhino questioned.

She shook her head. "I might have but it was hard to even hear my own thoughts in there. I don't think I saw them and I can't recall if they ever said who they were or not. All I know is they're very scientific about things and their procedures. I somehow threw a monkey-wrench into their plans by coming here. I don't think they meant for it to happen. But I know this, they're not happy with others messing with their things. So they're probably angry we blew up their facility."

All of them took a moment to digest the information before Dinobot spoke up, "Human."

"Dinobot," the rat was exasperated.

"It's ok, Rattrap," she assured him. "Yes?"

"I… Apologize for my earlier actions. If it were not for you we would not be functioning. You are the furthest thing from a hindrance, taking on all of the Predacons singlehandedly."

"Be still my beating spark," the rat said. "Did Chooperface just apologize and admit he was wrong?"

"Stifle it vermin before I bite your puny head off?" the raptor snarled at the rat. Eri didn't say anything but took a step forward. Everyone was a little caught off guard when she hugged him and smiled.

"It's alright, I haven't exactly been a pile of rainbows for you guys," she let go of him but didn't stop smiling. "But it looks like you're stuck with me now."

"We'll find a way to get you home," Rhinox put in. "One day."

"Think you can put up with me 'till then?" she inquired glancing at everyone.

"Sure thing, if you'll join this scurvy crew," Rattrap told her.

"I'd be happy to."

"You'll have to be even more careful now," the ape admitted. "Besides Waspinator the Predacons will be all too happy to finish you." Eri looked down at her feet feeling a little uneasy now that she was no longer needed by the Preds and farigame. "But not if I have anything to do about it." She looked up at him and the others.

"They're not getting through me," the cat said and she gave him a pat on the head.

"Nobody messes with our Stargirl," Rattrap told her.

"And if they do," Rhinox threatened.

"They will rue the day they were ever sparked!" Dinobot finished.

"For better or worse Eri, welcome to the Beast Wars," Optimus looked up to the sky as he said this and the others followed suit as the sun was setting and the two moons began to appear in the sky.


	17. Update on Sequel

**Hello people! I have officially posted the sequel to Beast Wars: Regeneration. It is called Beast Wars: Revolution. I hope you enjoy it and review to let me know what you think. See you there!**

**Another important note is while I am following the T.V. series from here on I will be making a few changes. Eri's decisions will affect certain things but I think you'll like my surprises.**


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